UU.lAt^Y 


Un;ve, 


TY  OF 


SAN  D<ee^ 


/     X^/7      '    CJl/U'-ni^      ^J^  /  Glendale,  Calif.  91204 

"-  ^--4      ',     24  4-08  28 


^1 


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->*n?^^^ 


Eliphalet  Trask,  born  January  8, 
1806,  died  December  g,  18 go. 

R^iby  Sqtder  Trask,  born  August 
22,  181 1,  died  November  26,  i8go. 


Married  March  j,  1 82g. 


Cl.AUK   W.   BUYAN    &   Co.,    PUINTEKS. 

Spuingfield,  Mas^. 


TRASK    MEMORIAL 
W 


;^   LIPHALET  TRASK  came  of  a  sturdy  ancestry.    He 
belonged  unmistakably  to  that  class  who  consider 


I  ^  useful  labor  the  highest  condition  of  New  England 
manhood  ;  and  to  produce  that  which  is  useful  far  more  impor- 
tant than  to  consume  the  results  of  other  people's  labor.  He 
had  quick  perceptions  of  the  rights  and  the  wrongs  of  his  own 
community,  and  of  the  State  and  the  Nation.  He  had  warm 
sympathies  and  a  tender  interest  in  the  misfortunes  of  others. 
He  loved  justice  for  justice's  sake,  and  he  was  not  easily 
turned  from  his  convictions  and  from  whatever  he  held  a  duty. 
He  was  during  his  early  life  a  hard  worker  and  a  busy  man. 
As  years  brought  larger  means  and  better  opportunities  he 
more  fully  entered  into  that  rest  which  had  been  earned 
in  the  full  strength  of  his  own  powers. 

The  Trask  family,  like  many  of  the  early  settlers  in  New 
England,  are  of  English  origin.  The  earliest  probable  ancestor 
of  Eliphalet  Trask  was  Osmond  Trask,  who,  in  1645,  came 
from  Somersetshire,  and  settled  on  Cape  Ann.  Somersetshire, 
in  the  South  of  England,  was  the  cradle  of  the  Trask  family, 
as  it  was  of  some  of  the  earliest  emigrants  to  this  country. 


(\  TItASK   MEMORIAL. 

There  is  lacking'  a  coniph'tc  rcgistci-  of  the  various  I'amilv 
lilies  to  clearly  connect  tliciu  with  Osmond  Trask,))ut  there  is 
much  to  strengthen  the  belief  that  Eliphalet  Trask  was  one  of 
his  descendants.  ITis  great-grandfatlier,  Josiah  Trask,  was 
born  in  Beverly,  Mass.,  in  1720.  He  married  Annie  Putnam 
of  Sutton,  Mass.,  October  31, 1745,  and  they  settled  in  Monson. 
Their  son,  Peter  Trask,  was  born  May  22, 174G,  and  he  married 
Rachel  Colburn  of  Stafford,  Ct.,  who  died  in  Wales,  August 
9,  1845,  aged  ninety-nine  years  one  month  and  twelve  days. 
Their  son,  Josiah  Trask,  the  father  of  Eliphalet  Trask,  was 
l>orn  in  1776,  and  he  married,  in  1801,  Elizabeth  Webb  of  Staf- 
ford, Ct.,  daughter  of  Eliphalet  and  Jemima  Webb.  Their 
third  son,  Eliphalet,  was  bom  in  Monson,  January  8,  1806. 

He  was  one  of  eight  children — six  boys  and  two  girls.  His 
childhood  was  spent  with  his  parents  on  the  old  farm  in 
Monson ;  but  at  twelve  years  of  age  he  went  to  live  with  his 
grandfather  Webb  in  Stafford,  Ct.,  where  he  remained  most  of 
the  time  until  he  began  working  in  different  places,  flis 
parents  desired  that  he  should  be  a  farmer,  but  farming 
seemed  to  offer  but  little  inducement  for  him,  and  as  soon  as  he 
was  old  enough  he  was  working  at  anything  he  could  find  to 
do.  He  found  employment  in  drawing  the  brick  used  in  build- 
ing the  Lafayette  furnace  in  Stafford.  When  it  was  finished, 
some  time  in  1826,  he  began  work  in  it  to  learn  the  trade  of  an 
iron  founder.  The  business  did  not  prove  successful  and  the 
furnace  was  closed  within  about  a  year.  There  was  another 
furnace  in  the  town,  where  an  older  brother  was  employed,  and 
he  went    into  that,  whore  he  remained  a  year.     Then,  for  a 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  7 

brief  time,  he  went  to  his  home  in  Monson,  and  while  there  he 
learned  of  the  furnace  in  Brook  field,  at  which  he  applied  for 
employment.  Securing  it,  he  went  there  in  1828  to  begin 
work.  The  next  year,  March  3, 1829,  he  married  Ruby  Squier 
in  Monson.  His  father  died  a  short  time  before  and  the  farm 
was  sold  to  settle  the  estate.  He  bought  it  of  the  other  heirs, 
and  for  a  time  made  that  his  home  after  he  was  married.  His 
great-grandfather,  Josiah  Trask,  who  was  the  first  of  the  Trask 
family  to  live  in  Monson,  came  there  as  a  colonist  and  took  up 
the  land  for  the  farm  upon  which  the  family  lived,  giving  it 
the  name  of  Ziklag,  a  name  derived  from  the  Bible,  and  a  part 
of  the  farm  still  retains  this  name.  It  descended  to  Josiah's 
son  Peter,  then  to  his  son  Josiah — father  of  Eliphalet — and 
then,  by  purchase,  to  Eliphalet.  He  continued  to  own  it  for 
some  time,  but  finally  disposed  of  it.  His  wife  remained  on 
the  old  homestead  until  1830,  when  he  moved  her  to  Brook- 
field.  Before  taking  his  wife  to  Brookfield,  it  was  his  custom 
to  walk  every  Saturday  night,  after  finishing  his  day's  work  in 
the  furnace,  to  his  home  in  Monson,  to  spend  Sunday  with 
her.  Sunday  night  he  walked  back  to  Brookfield,  covering  a 
distance  both  ways  of  forty  miles. 

His  wife,  Ruby  Squier  Trask,  was  born  in  Monson,  Mass., 
August  22, 1811,  and  died  in  Springfield,  November  26,  1890. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Solomon  aud  Sarah  Moulton  Squier, 
both  of  Monson,  and  the  youngest  of  fifteen  children.  Her 
childhood  was  spent  in  her  native  town,  where  she  was  married, 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ely,  to  Eliphalet  Trask,  March  8,  1829.  She 
was  the  mother  of  ten  children,  five  girls  and  five  boys^one  of 


o  TRASK   MEMORIAL. 

wliimi.a  son. (lied  in  inlancy,  the  other  nine  livin<2;  to  manhood 
and  womanhood,  llcf  ancestry  is  iMiiilish,  her  grcat-grand- 
lather,  Daniel  Muiilton,  and  his  wife  (who  was  a  Miss  Wolfe, 
and  a  near  rehitive  of  Gen.  Wolfe,  famous  in  the  battle  of 
Quebec),  having  come  from  England  to  America  about  the  year 
1750.  Her  grandfather  was  born  during  the  voyage,  and  was 
named  Freeborn  Moulton,  because  l)orn  out  of  the  king's 
dominion.  His  parents  settled  in  Monson,  where,  in  1763, 
Daniel  Moulton  erected  the  old  Moulton  Manor  House, 
now'  a  quaint  old  farm-house,  with  a  large,  square  stone 
chimney  surmounting  it,  and  bearing  the  date  of  its  erec- 
tion. The  place  is  still  held  by  his  descendants,  and  for 
years,  so  the  story  ran,  the  old  broadsword  carried  by 
Daniel  Moulton  in  the  Revolutionary  War  was  one  of  the 
treasures  of  its  garret. 

Mrs.  Trask's  childhood's  home,  and  her  home  for  the  first 
two  years  of  her  married  life,  was  within  a  short  distance  of 
this  old  family  home.  It  is  easy  to  believe  that  tiio  virtues  of 
patience,  gentleness  and  unselfishness  which  were  not  only  her 
strong  individual  characteristics,  but  traits  common  to  her 
brothers  and  sisters,  wei'c  developed  and  strengthened  by  the 
home-life  of  so  large  a  family ;  while  loyalty  and  devotion,  not 
only  to  her  immediate  kindred,  l)ut  to  all  her  friends,  was  a 
part  of  her  every-day  life  and  education.  She  was  a  woman 
of  almost  Puritanical  simplicity  of  character,  and  although 
singularly  modest  and  unassuming,  she  was  clear  in  her  views 
of  right,  and  firm  in  her  adherence  to  those  views.  In  her 
own  home  she  was  the  true  housewife  and   molhcr.     Under 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  9 

her  quiet  rule,  the  neccssarv  work  of  a  Inruc  household  seemed 
to  move  on  like  well-kept  machinery.  Always  busy  and  in- 
dustrious, until  age  compelled  her  to  relinquish  her  cares  to 
others,  with  every  hour  of  the  day  full  of  duties,  yet  her  child 
ren  never  remember  to  have  seen  her  impatient,  or  fretful. 
Yet  this  unvarying  gentleness  was  not  the  calm  ])lacidity  of 
one  who  lacked  energy,  or  force  of  character.  On  the  contrary, 
she  had  the  ability  to  plan,  and  the  force  to  execute  her  plans, 
and  whenever  she  had  once  decided  on  the  right  of  her  method, 
she  was  firm  and  unyielding. 

While  her  husband  was  interested  in  business  and  public 
affairs,  all  the  care  of  a  large  family  and  the  management  of 
her  children  came  upon  her.  It  was  not  a  household  of  rules 
and  regulations,  yet  her  government  was  absolute  down  to  the 
last  detail.  Her  rule  was  guiding  rather  than  authoritative, 
leaving  to  her  children  that  sense  of  individuality  and  freedom 
which  made  their  home  life'so  pleasant.  She  belonged  to  the 
race  of  old-fashioned  mothers,  who  were  wholly  devoted  to 
home  and  family.  She  was  to  her  children  the  friend,  the 
peacemaker,  the  adviser,  the  physician  and  nurse,  as  well  as 
the  lawgiver.  All  authority  was  left  with  her,  because  "  the 
heart  of  her  husband  did  safely  trust  in  her."  Yet,  with  all 
her  cares,  she  had  always  time  for  the  entertainment  of  friends, 
who  were  constantly  coming  and  going  ;  time  to  devote  to  the 
social  pleasures  of  her  children ;  time  for  much  quiet  and  un- 
ostentatious charity  to  those  needing  aid,  and  time  for  nnich 
active  Avork  in  the  church  of  her  faith.  Her  religion  was  not 
a  subject  of  talk,  or  a  matter  of  words  with  her,  but  a  very 


10  THASK  MEMOlilAL. 

art ivi'  part  of  lici'  life.  One  of  the  pli-asaiitest  pictures  that 
nicniory  brings  of  her,  is,  as  she  sat  on  many  a  (piiet  Saturday 
evening-,  the  week's  woi'k  all  done  and  laid  aside,  and,  with 
the  inlluence  of  the  strict  Puritanical  hahits  of  lier  childhood 
strong  upon  her,  when  Sunday  began  with  tlie  setting  of  Sat- 
urday's sun,  she  would  open  the  family  J3ible,  with  its  plain, 
old  binding,  and  read  chapter  after  chapter,  until  she  had  gone 
from  cover  to  cover,  two  or  three  times  in  the  course  of  such 
reading.  Although,  to  use  a  favorite  phrase  of  her  own,  she 
found  it  "  best  not  to  make  too  great  pretensions  to  Chris- 
tianity," yet,  none  the  less,  was  she  consistent  and  faithful  in 
every  duty,  as  it  came  to  her. 

It  has  been  said  of  her  that  "■  she  had  no  enemies,  and  never 
lost  a  friend."  Perhai)s,  because,  as  Jeremy  Taylor  says,  "A 
Christian  knows  no  enemy  he  hath,  because  he  knows  no  one 
he  is  not  bound  to  love  and  to  forgive,  and  none  he  is  not 
bound  to  treat  kindly  and  justly,  liberally  and  obligingly." 
Yet,  while  all  who  came  in  contact  with  her  were  her  friends, 
still  she  was  essentially  and  chieiiy  domestic  and  home-loving, 
l)Ound  up  in  her  love  and  care  for  her  family.  From  the  date 
of  the  deaths  of  her  three  oldest  children,  came  a  change  in 
her,  and  she  seemed  gradually  to  lose  her  interest  in  outward 
affairs,  and  turn  back  to  those  ha]ipier  days  when  her  family 
was  as  yet  unbroken,  drawing  more  closely  still  within  her 
own  home,  and  to  those  who  were  left,  until  at  last  she  was 
like  a  gentle,  affectionate,  little  child,  dependent  on  those 
whom  she,  herself,  had  spent  her  best  years  in  caring  for.  To 
them  she  leaves  the  memories  of  a  character,  whose  beauties 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  11 

and  graces  arc  not  for  the  eyes  of  stranoers,  but  to  those  who 
knew  and  loved  her. 

"  The  idea  of  her  life  shall  sweetly  creep 
Into  their  study  of  imagination  ; 
And  every  lovely  organ  of  her  life 
Shall  come  appareled  in  more  precious  habit, 
More  moving,  delicate,  and  full  of  life 
Than  when  she  lived  indeed." 

Eliphalet  Trask,with  his  brother  La,uren,  and  their  families, 
came  to  reside  in  Springfield  from  Brookfield,  October  1,1834. 
They  went  into  the  foundry  business  on  their  own  account  at 
the  south  end  of  the  town,  on  the  Longmeadow  road,  now 
known  as  South  street.  Here  they  also  lived,  having  pur- 
chased a  single  and  a  larger  double  house.  In  1836  Eliphalet 
purchased  a  house  on  Court  street,  standing  on  the  lot  now 
occupied  by  his  son  Henry's  residence,  to  which  he  moved  his 
family.  He  remained  there  until  April  1,  1841,  when  he 
moved  to  the  house  on  Water  street,  which  he  occupied  nearly 
fifty  years,  up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  The  foundry  business 
remained  on  South  street  until  1836,  Avhcn  it  was  moved  to 
Court  street,  to  the  lot  adjoining  his  house.  In  1840  he  moved 
his  foundry  business  to  the  lot  on  Water  street,  where  it  is 
still  located.  He  did  not  often  sell  a  piece  of  land,  being  dis- 
inclined to  part  with  any  property  which  he  had  bought. 

His  wife  was  quite  as  strong  in  her  own  way  as  was  he  in 
his.  Whatever  she  held  was  best  to  be  done,  she  was  sure  to 
do.     The  matters  pertaining  to  the  house  were  always  left  to 


12  TliASK   MKMOUIAL. 

Iicr,  and  it  niivlliiiiu'  was  done  in  opposit  i(jii  to  his  wislics,  he 
took  it  |ilcasaiilly,  after  it  was  done,  aiul  was  lond  of  ndatiiig 
an  incident  which  o(;cnn-cd  soon  after  (toniinu'  to  Springfield. 
Tlie  two  brotlicrs,  when  they  went  to  South  street  to  live,  occu- 
pied the  doul)le  house.  'J^he  single  house  remained  unoccupied. 
Mrs.  Trask  desired  to  move  to  the  single  house.  Her  husband 
was  not  in  favor  of  it ;  but  slie  thouglil  it  would  be  l)etter  to 
have  a  house  that  was  entirely  separate  from  any  other,  even 
if  it  was  smaller.  During  the  day,  in  the  absence  of  her  hus- 
band, she  moved  everything,  excei)t  the  largest  articles,  and 
when  he  came  home  at  night  he  found  the  family  occupying 
the  single  house,  much  to  his  surprise,  but  to  the  enjoyment 
of  himself  to  know  that  whatever  his  wife  undertook  to  do  was 
done.  The  few  remaining  articles  he  moved  over  to  the  new 
(piarters,  thus  establishing  themselves  in  a  more  desirable  place. 
When  he  was  working  in  Brooklield  he  received  about 
ninety  cents  a  day  for  his  labor,  and  his  accumulations  were 
necessarily  slow.  The  blast  furnace  was  running  on  full 
time,  seven  days  in  the  week,  and,  during  the  three  years  he 
had  his  family  in  Brookfield,  he  worked  nine  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  days.  After  beginning  business  in  Springfield, 
the  first  money  the  two  brothers  made  came  from  getting 
sera  J)  iron  out  of  the  ruins  caused  by  a  fire.  An  old  factory, 
situated  in  Ware,  had  been  burned.  There  was  considerable 
scrap  iron  in  the  ruins,  and  Eliphalet  and  his  brother  went  to 
the  owners  of  the  mill  to  make  arrangements  to  buy  it,  who 
said,  in  reply,  that  not  enough  could  be  got  to  pay  them  for 
theii'  troulile.     "  Never  mind  that ;  we   are  willing  to  tiy  it," 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  13 

was  the  response.  Arrangements  were  made, and  when  the 
work  was  over,  they  had  obtained  a  sufficient  quantity  to  give 
each  $400,  besides  paying  for  the  iron  and  the  expense  of  get- 
ting it  out,  and  it  was  this  that  gave  the  two  brothers  their 
first  start  in  business. 

His  first  trip  to  New  York  to  buy  iron  for  his  foundry,  and 
what  followed  in  connection  with  it,  were  without  doubt  the 
turning  point  in  his  life  towards  success  in  his  early  business 
career.  He  carried  with  him  to  New  York  some  -1300  or  $400, 
but,  before  leaving  home,  he  had  computed  the  expense,  and 
made  up  his  mind  as  to  the  quantity  of  iron  he  could  l)uy. 
As  he  had  never  been  to  New  York  before,  he  did  not  know- 
precisely  where  to  go ;  so  he  went  through  the  streets  looking 
at  the  signs,  and  hunting  for  a  place  where  iron  was  sold.  He 
noticed  bars  of  such  iron  as  he  wished  to  buy  displayed  out- 
side of  a  store,  and,  on  entering,  he  met  an  elderly  gentleman, 
who  proved  to  be  Thomas  J.  Pope,  the  proprietor.  After  in- 
quiring the  price,  he  informed  Mr.  Pope  of  the  quantity  he 
wished  to  get,  who,  looking  over  his  youthful  customer,  and 
as  Mr.  Trask  afterward  used  to  say,  "  right  in  the  eyes,"  in- 
quired if  he  had  a  business  of  his  own  ;  if  he  was  married  ;  if 
he  owned  his  own  house  ;  the  kind  of  work  he  was  doing  ;  and 
other  questions  of  like  nature.  To  these  Mr.  Trask  made 
direct  answers,  and  then  Mr.  Pope  said,  "  Young  man,  let  me 
give  you  some  advice.  I  have  a  vessel  at  the  dock  loaded  wath 
iron.  Let  me  send  that  right  up  to  Hartford  for  you."  Mr. 
Trask  demurred  ;  said  that  he  had  not  money  enough  with 
him  to  buy  so  much,  and  could  not  take  it ;  that  he  was  a 


14  TRASK    MEMORIAL. 

strangur  in  New  York  ;  no  one  knew  liini,  and  he  did  not  like 
to  take  as  niueh,  anyway.  To  this  Mr.  Poj)c  again  said, 
'' Yonng  man,  let  me  advise  yon  further;  take  your  money 
home  with  you  to  pay  your  men  ;  keep  them  paid  up,  and  if 
you  will  take  that  vessel-load  of  iron  you  can  give  me  notes 
for  the  amount  of  the  bill."  Mr.  Trask  was  still  averse  to 
taking  so  much  ;  but  Mr.  Pope  finally  persuaded  him  to  do  it, 
and  he  gave  three  notes  in  settlement — one  due  in  three 
months,  the  second  in  six  months,  and  the  third  in  nine. 
When  the  notes  were  ready  for  signing  Mr.  Trask's  courage 
began  to  fail  him  again,  and  he  Avas  in  favor  of  taking  only 
what  he  could  pay  for.  "  Never  fear,  young  man,"  said  Mr. 
Poi)e,  "  I  will  trust  you  for  any  amount.  If  you  cannot  meet 
these  notes  when  due,  I  will  renew  them  ;  do  not  worry  about 
the  payment ;  the  business  is  a  good  one,  and  you  will  come 
out  all  right." 

The  notes  were  signed,  but  the  transaction  began  to  hang 
over  his  mind  on  his  way  home  like  an  unpleasant  dream.  He 
was  sick  at  heart,  and  if  he  could  only  undo  the  bargain  he 
would  gladly  do  so.  He  had  taken  three  or  four  times  the 
amount  of  iron  that  he  really  needed  for  immediate  use ;  but 
it  was  too  late  to  make  any  change,  and  he  soon  formed  the 
determination  never  to  ask  for  a  renewal  of  the  notes.  When 
the  first  and  second  notes  became  due,  he  had  no  trouble  in 
meeting  them  ;  but  just  before  the  last  one  was  due  he  began 
to  think  he  should  have  to  ask  for  a  renewal.  This  he 
dreaded  to  do,  and  put  it  off  until  it  was  too  late.  The  after- 
noon  of  the   day   the   last   note  was  due,  some  one  who  was 


TRASK  MEMOEIAL.  15 

owing  him  came  in  and  paid  a  bill  that  he  was  not  expecting 
so  soon,  and  that  gave  him  a  sufficient  amount  to  take  up  the 
note  and  leave  him  #125  besides.  Immediately  upon  getting 
it,  he  rushed  over  to  the  bank  and  made  the  payment,  and  he 
afterward  frequently  said,  "1  was  the  happiest  man  alive  when 
I  took  up  that  note.  I  was  young  and  green,  but  he  trusted 
me,  and  I  will  never  forget  his  kindness."  This  transaction 
not  only  made  Mr.  Trask  a  customer  with  Mr.  Pope  and  his 
successors  for  life,  but  it  left  a  lasting  impression  on  his  mind, 
and  in  frequently  alluding  to  what  Mr.  Pope  said  to  him, 
"You  look  like  an  honest  man,"  he  would  often  say,  "  You 
can  tell  an  honest  man  by  his  face ;  there  are  more  honest 
men  in  the  world  than  thieves ;  thieves  are  not  plenty,  and  if 
we  trust  people  they  will  be  more  apt  to  be  worthy  of  our 
confidence."  This  belief  and  this  practice  were  the  guiding 
impulses  of  his  whole  life,  and  it  was  not  often  that  he  was 
mistaken  in  his  estimates  of  men  and  of  character.  He  saw 
the  bearing  of  private  and  public  questions  quickly,  and  their 
importance  and  relative  merits.  He  readily  discerned  the  due 
proportion  that  each  bore  to  the  other  in  the  consideration  of 
events,  as  they  awakened  interest  in  the  community. 

His  parents  and  grand-parents  were  Baptists,  and  his  early 
religious  training  came  from  that  denomination  ;  but  as  soon 
as  he  began  to  exercise  individual  responsibility,  his  own  relig- 
ious belief  broadened  beyond  the  church  and  the  [irevailing 
theological  sentiment  of  his  home  and  neighborhood.  His 
grandfather  Webb,  although  a  firm  Baptist  in  religious  belief, 
was  a  fair-minded  man,  who  i)aid  deference  to  the  religious 


16  TRA8K  MEMORIAL. 

lailh  and  I'iiihts  of  his  neighbors,  and  it  was  this  regard,  no 
doubt,  wliich  liad  its  inthience  upon  the  early  convictions  of 
his  grandson,  and  led  him  to  tliink  for  himself,  and  carefully 
weigh  the  words  and  opinions  which  he  heard  expressed.  In 
the  earlier  days  of  Stafford,  those  who  held  the  Universalist 
faith  were  not  suflficiently  strong  in  numlxM's  to  support  a  reg- 
idar  minister.  Some  of  them  were  attendants  of  the  Baptist 
church,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  Universalists  should  have 
the  use  of  the  church  in  which  to  hold  meetings  one  Sunday 
in  the  month.  Mr.  Webb  was  one  of  the  Baptists  who  favored 
according  this  right  to  the  Universalists.  Hosea  Ballon,  the 
great  light  of  Universalism  in  New  England  at  that  time,  oc- 
casionally occupied  the  pulpit.  Eliphalet,  scarcely  more  than 
a  boy  in  years,  heard  him  preach,  and  was  deeply  impressed, 
and  would  say,  "  This  is  the  ivind  of  preaching  I  like."  It 
appealed  strongly  to  his  reason  and  to  his  heart,  and  it  was 
this  that  gave  form  and  strength  to  those  religious  views 
which  he  afterwards  cherished,  and  firmly  maintained  through 
his  long  life.  His  mother  was  as  strongly  grounded  in  the 
Baptist  faith,  and  might  have  grieved  that  her  son  followed, 
with  something  of  her  own  zeal,  what  to  him  was  a  broader 
view  of  Christian  duty  and  belief,  but  to  her  not  the  religion 
of  her  convictions  in  her  childliood,  and  of  her  maturer  years. 
Her  own  home  had  been  the  center  of  religious  expression 
which  was  in  accord  with  her  own  belief.  As  that  part  of 
Monson  in  which  she  lived  after  marriage  was  without  a  meet- 
ing house  of  her  denomination,  meetings  were  often  held  in 
her  own  home,  and  she  desired  her  children  to  follow  her 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  17 

example.  After  lier  son  Eliphalet  went  to  Stafford  to  live 
with  his  grandfather  Webb,  and  had  come  under  tlie  occasional 
preachings  of  the  Universalists,  he  was  so  deeply  impressed 
with  the  latter,  that  when  the  Universalists  held  meetings  in  a 
separate  place,  he  would  quietly  slip  out  of  the  Baptist  church 
and  go  to  the  Universalist  meetings,  where  he  would  I'eniain 
until  nearly  the  close  of  the  services,  and  then  return  h>  the 
Baptists,  that  his  family  relatives  might  not  know  where  he 
had  been.  His  mother,  had  she  known  of  it,  would  have  been 
horrified  to  think  that  her  son  was  departing  so  widely  from 
her  own  faith  and  teachings.  The  great  opposition  on  the 
part  of  some  in  Stafford  in  permitting  the  Universalists  to 
have  use  of  the  church  a  given  number  of  Sundays  in  the  year, 
the  decision  of  his  grandfather  Webb  in  favor  of  according 
the  right,  and  the  ardent  sermons  delivered  by  Ballou,  and 
others  of  his  faith,  the  humane  side  of  the  Universalist  doc- 
trines, shorn  of  those  harsher  features  of  the  orthodox  belief 
prevalent  at  that  time,  turned  his  thoughts  and  convictions 
towards  a  higher  spirituality  and  a  more  just  conception  of 
the  infinite  purposes  of  the  Creator.  Man's  duty  to  man  in 
this  world,  as  set  forth  to  him  by  the  teachers  of  Universalism, 
and  that  their  God  was  a  God  of  love  and  not  of  hate,  could 
have  produced  no  othei-  than  a  liberalizing  influence  upon  a 
young  mind  seeking  honestly  for  the  light.  The  docti'ine  of 
endless  punishment  of  the  orthodox  faith  was  abhorrent  to  all 
the  better  impulses  of  his  own  mind,  and  with  such  tender  in- 
terest and  faith  in  humanity  as  was  yearly  ripening  with  him 
into  solemn  conviction,  it  was  not  at  all  strange  that  he  should 


18  TKASK  MEMORIAL. 

find  more  comfort  and  greater  s})iritiial  satisfaction  in  those 
broader  doctrines  which  have  since  had  their  infhience  upon 
all  religious  opinion  and  denominations  in  New  p]ngland. 

When  he  came  to  Si)ringfield  with  liis  family,  the  Univer- 
salists  were  without  a  church  edifice ;  they  were  few  in 
numbers,  and  without  influence  in  the  community ;  their 
meetings  were  held  in  a  hall,  and  were  not  regarded  with 
favor  by  the  orthodox  community.  The  First  Church  organi- 
zation was  the  leading  and  infhicntial  church  oi  the  town. 
Prominent  members  went  to  Mr.  Trask  and  solicited  him  to 
attend  its  meetings.  Universalism,  they  said,  was  not  popular, 
and  as  he  was  a  young  man,  just  starting  in  business,  it  would 
be  better  for  him  to  attend  their  church.  To  this  he  answered, 
"  ]\ry  principles  are  not  foi-  sale."  It  was  further  intimated 
that  their  brothers  in  the  church  might  l)e  influenced  not  to 
trade  with  him.  This  had  as  little  effect.  His  reply  was,  ^  1 
have  asked  nothing  of  them,  and  I  do  not  intend  to.  My 
principles  are  not  for  sale."  Everybody  at  that  time  paid  the 
"  minister's  tax,"  to  sup|tort  i)reaching  in  the  First  Church, 
and  he  was  honored  at  several  times  with  calls  from  special 
committees  to  urge  him  to  attend  its  services.  He  i)aid  no 
heed  to  their  solicitations,  but  cast  his  lot  and  his  influence 
with  the  Universalists,  and  finally,  he  had  so  prospered  in 
])usiness,  that  he  went  altoiit  building  a  church  edifice  for  the 
use  of  his  own  dcuioiuiiiiitiou.  A  |iiec(!  of  laud  was  i)iirchased 
on  the  Fast^  side  of  Main  street,  below  State  street,  where  a 
l)uilding  was  erected,  the;  ground  (loor  to  be  used  for  mercan- 
tile purposes,  and  the  upper  room  for  religious  meetings,  and 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  19 

it  was  here  the  Society  met  and  worshipped  until  the  present 
church  was  l)uilt  on  Chestnut  street.  Of  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty  shares  held  in  the  Main  street  church  edifice,  Mr. 
Trask  owned  one  hundred,  which  indicated  his  interest  and 
zeal  in  the  denomination. 

He  was  a  warm  friend  of  the  pastor  of  the  First  Church, 
Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Osirood,  whom  he  admired  for  his  courage 
and  outspoken  views,  although  he  did  not  like  his  theology. 
When  they  were  digging  for  the  foundation  of  the  Universalist 
Church,  which  was  built  in  1844,  Dr.  Osgood  came  along  and 
asked  Mr.  Trask  what  they  were  doing,  to  which  he  replied, 
"  We  are  going  to  build  a  church  where  we  can  have  the 
Gospel  preached."  "  Humph,"  began  the  Doctor,  "  there  will 
be  a  scattering  among  you,^^  and  passed  on.  This  witticism  of 
the  Doctor's,  so  characteristic,  greatly  pleased  Mr.  Trask, 
who  frequently  alluded  to  it,  as  well  as  the  visit  of  the  com- 
mittee from  the  First  Church,  when  he  came  to  Springfield  to 
live,  and  he  often  said  that  the  First  Church  members  re- 
spected him  quite  as  much  as  though  he  had  sold  his  opinions 
to  them  when  he  first  came  here. 

When  the  First  Church  held  its  two  hundred  and  fiftieth 
anniversary,  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Trask  were  invited,  Mr. 
Trask  having  been  asked  to  speak  on  the  character  of  their 
former  pastor.  Dr.  Osgood.  Mrs.  Trask  was  unkble  to  attend, 
and  the  seat  reserved  for  her  at  the  dinner  in  the  Sunday- 
school  room  was  given  to  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Gage  of  Hartford, 
who  sat  through  the  exercises  which  followed,  by  the  side  of 
Mr.  Trask.     As  Dr.  Gage  was  not  acquainted  with  Mr.  Trask 


20  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

and  his  theological  opinions,  hu  conuncnted  \cvy  ])lca8antly 
upon  what  he  had  said  ol'  cliurch  ai'l'airs  half  a  centnry  ago, 
and  rather  hesitatingly,  and  in  a  delicate  way,  intiuired,"  May 
I  ask  what  church  you  attend  V"  "Oh,  yes;  certainly,"  re- 
plied Mr.  Trask,  "  1  attend  St.  Paul's,  the  Universalist 
Church."  "•  Why,"  rei)lied  Dr.  Gage,  who  was  a  strict  ortho- 
dox, but  blessed  with  a  good  vein  of  humor,  "  I  had  judged 
from  your  remarks  that  you  wore  a  broad-aisU;  Presbyterian." 
In  the  report  of  the  celebration  published  in  the  local  news- 
papers is  the  following  summary  of  Mr.  Trask's  sjjeech :  "I 
have  lived,"  said  Ex-Governor  Trask,  "  for  more  than  fifty 
years  in  the  shadow  of  Dr.  Osgcjod's  church.  1  came  to 
Springfield  in  1884,  and  at  once  l)ecame  acquainted  with  Dr. 
Osgood,  who  was  not  only  the  leading  divine  of  the  place, 
but  its  foremost  jjrominent  citizen  and  most  influential  pub- 
lic character.  At  that  time  there  were  four  other  churches 
in  the  town.  Dr.  Osgood  made  a  special  point  of  seeking 
out  strangers  and  visitoi'S,  for  whom  he  had  the  most  cordial 
of  greetings.  Unless  the  stranger  had  a  letter  to  one  of 
the  other  churches  in  the  town,  the  ])nstor  of  the  First 
Church  regarde<l  him  as  one  of  his  Hock,  and  showered 
on  him  the  light  ol  his  ])ersonal  friendship  and  spiritual 
guidance."  The  s]>eaker  then  si)oke  in  the  warmest  and 
tenderest  terms  of  his  pci'sonal  friendship  with  and  regard 
for  Dr.  Osgood,  and  emphasized  the  fact  tliat  the  doctor 
was  not  only  a  pastoi'  but  a  reformer,  a  leader  of  tlie 
church,  the  town,  and  of  jiublic  sentiment  in  this  section  of 
New  England.     "The  doctor  was  a  man  of  extraordinarily 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  21 

strong-  sentiments  and  force  of  character.  lie  feared  nol)odv. 
He  had  the  conragc;  of  his  convictions,  and  hibored  with  nil 
the  force  of  his  will  and  his  intellect  in  whatever  he  under- 
took. Everybody  respected  him.  His  influence  was  thrown 
boldly  and  earnestly  on  the  right  side  in  two  most  import- 
ant movements  of  national  interest  during  his  pastorate.  As 
regards  the  first,  the  anti-slavery  movement,  Dr.  Osgood  was 
one  of  the  pioneers  in  the  noblest  humanitarian  enterprises 
of  the  century.  He  was  a  leader  in  the  second,  the  Wash- 
ingtonian  movement,  which  so  intimately  affected  this  city. 
He  was  a  good  man  and  he  had  a  good  word  for  every  one, 
and  he  never  frowned  and  looked  down  on  any  one.  I  have 
said  many  times,  and  I  say  it  now,  that  he  was  the  only  true 
reformer  in  Springfield.  When  he  i)reached,  three  sides  of 
Court  Sipiare  used  to  be  lined  with  horses,  Sabbath  after 
Sabbath,  until  they  ate  up  the  fence.  How  different  it  is 
now!  It  has  got  to  be  the  fashion  to  hold  services  in  the 
morning  and  in  the  evening,  and  the  day  has  become  a  half- 
holiday  and  all  seek  after  pleasure.  So  far  as  I  can  learn, 
nothing  is  said  from  the  pulpit  or  by  the  press  against  it. 
Is  not  this  true  V  And  is  it  not  a  step  backward  from  the 
time  and  teaching  of  Dr.  Osgood  ? " 

On  the  evening  of  the  Sunday  when  the  First  Baptist 
Church  Society  held  its  farewell  services  in  the  old  edifice  at 
the  corner  of  Main  street  and  Harrison  avenue,  Mr.  Trask 
was  invited  to  attend,  and,  as  one  of  the  oldest  citizens,  to  tell 
what  he  knew  of  the  church.  In  the  course  of  his  rcmai-ks, 
he  said  that  he  had  always  been  interested  in  it,  as  an  aunt 


22  TRASE  MEMO  RIAL. 

of  his,  who  lived  in  Chicopee  Falls,  was  one  of  tlie  original 
nicniljcrs,  and  that  she,  with  her  husband,  used  to  drive  down 
every  Sunday  from  there  to  attend  its  meetings.  The  minister, 
in  speaking  with  him  afterward,  paid  him  a  ha])py  compliment 
by  saying,  "  I  always  knew  you  had  a  good  Bai)tist  streak  in 
you."  He  always  entertained  a  conciliatory  spirit  towards 
other  denominations,  even  if  lie  could  not  agree  with  their 
theological  tenets,  and  as  he  grew  older  he  was  pleased  to 
be  recognized  and  invited  to  their  imj)ortant  gatheriiigs.  lie 
did  not  so  much  hold  this  as  a  personal  compliment  to  him- 
self as  he  did  to  its  being  an  indication  that  the  times  had 
changed.  As  he  looked  back  upon  the  past,  he  could  see 
that  there  was  a  Ijetter  feeling  i»revailing  among  the  differ- 
ent religious  sects,  which  was  a  great  source  of  pleasure 
to  him. 

He  was  in  every  jiarticular  loyal  to  his  church,  and  it  was 
unpardonable  on  the  part  of  his  own  family  to  criticise  the 
minister,  or  to  say  that  the  sermon  was  not  good.  In  reply 
to  them  he  would  say,  "  If  you  cannot  say  anything  good,  do 
not  say  anything  at  all."  "Now,"  sometimes,  a  differing 
member  of  the  family  would  say,  "  you  do  not  think  it  was  a 
good  sermon,  yourself,  do  you  ? "  "  Yes,  I  do ;  it  was  a  good 
sermon,  and  if  you  think  it  over,  you  will  lind  many  good 
points  in  it."  He  would  never  breathe  a  word  against  his 
church,  or  his  pastor.  No  one  could  have  been  more  devoted 
or  more  willing  to  overlook  a  minor  defect  in  sermon,  or  in 
ministei'.  He  was  a  regular  attendant,  and  he  and  his  family 
went    to    church,   through    rain    or    sunshine,    twice   every 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  2?. 

Sunday.  He  would  say  to  his  child reii,  who  might  |)leud  ill- 
ness as  an  excuse  for  wanting  to  stay  at  home, "  You  will  feci 
just  as  well  silting  in  cliurcli,  as  sitting  here  at  home,  so  come 
along,''  and  along  they  all  went.  On  a  c(!i'tain  Sunday  it 
snowed  very  hard,  but,  as  usual,  his  family  went  to  meeting, 
and  there  were  just  twelve  persons  in  the  church  on  that  day, 
nine  members  of  Mr.  Trask's  family,  the  minister,  and  two 
others.  For  twenty  }ears  he  gave  the  society  free  use  of  the 
church,  and,  of  the  four  members  of  the  choir,  three  were 
members  of  his  family. 

He  was  always  a  warm  friend  of  the  leading  lights  in  the 
church.  In  fact,  his  home  on  Water  street  might  be  said  to 
have  been,  throughout  his  residence  there,  "  the  minister's 
house."  He  used  to  say  to  every  minister  of  his  church, 
"  When  you  come  to  Springfield,  come  right  to  my  house." 
He  always  enjoyed  his  friends,  and  he  was  well  acquainted 
with  every  prominent  man  in  the  church.  There  was  scarcely 
a  man  in  the  ministry  whom  he  did  not  know,  and  his  warm- 
est friends  were  among  the  older  ministers  in  the  church  to 
which  he  was  so  strongly  attached.  His  sympathy  with  his 
church  was  the  same  as  it  was  with  his  home  life — it  was 
everything  to  him.  Charles  Spear,  who  was  formerly  a 
Universalist  minister,  who  had  given  up  preaching  to  devote 
his  whole  life  to  the  improvement  of  prisons  and  of  prisoners 
(doing  a  similar  work  in  this  country  that  Elizabeth  Frye  and 
George  Howard  did  in  England),  was  one  of  his  more  frequent 
visitors.  He  went  all  over  the  country,  and  the  fact  that  he 
was  devoting  his  life  to  such  philanthropic  work   touched  the 


24  Th'ASK  MEMORIAL. 

liiiiiuiiic  side  of  Mr.  Trask,  and    lie  alwavs  gave  liiiii  a  warm 

WclcOllR'   wlll'lR'NCr  llL'  caiuc. 

Mr.  Trask  al\va\s  attended  the  annual  (conventions  of 
his  churcli  until  within  very  recent  years.  He  went  to  every 
United  States  convention  for  more  than  forty  years,  and  to 
the  State  conventions  until  within  a  year  or  two.  He  greatly 
enjoyed  them,  and  his  marked  personality  made  him  a  con- 
spicuous ligure  in  all  the  gatherings  of  the  denomination.  He 
found  in  these  gatherings  hearty  greetings  and  sincere  friend- 
ships, and  a  bond  of  union  grew  up  between  him  and  the 
leaders  of  the  church,  that  increased,  rather  than  diminished, 
as  the  years  ])assed,  and  which  were  sundered  only  as  death 
took  from  earth  those  whom  he  cherished  with  a  sincere  and 
lasting  aiTection. 

Right  living  was  as  c(|ually  important  to  Mr.  Trask  as  right 
believing.  Hence,  the  temperance  question  very  early  came 
to  his  notice,  and  it  impressed  itself  upon  his  miiul.  It  stood 
next  in  importance  with  him  to  his  religious  convictions,  in 
his  woi-k  and  line  of  duty.  He  had  early  seen  the  evils  of  in- 
temperance, and  had  had  frequent  occasion  to  feel  its  baneful 
inlluence  upon  those  within  his  own  circle  of  ac(juaintancc. 
When  he  was  a  boy,  it  was  one  of  the  customs  to  offer 
spirituous  Ii(piors  to  such  friends  as  called,  or  had  come  to 
make  a  visit.  Tlie  jug  of  rum  was  even  brought  out  to  treat 
the  minister  when  he  came  to  preach,  or  to  make  a  pastoral 
visit.  It  was  not  thought  strange  of  at  the  time — it  was  the 
way  i)eople  had  in  those  days  of  showing  their  hospitality. 
Tiiis  early   l>elicf  ami   interest  in  temjierance  ])rineii»les  was 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  25 

always  kept  uj),  niid  after  coming  to  S])ring-(icl(l  to  live,  his 
interest  was  not  abated,  but  grew  with  him  iis  new  circum- 
stances brought  it  before  him.  Come  what  might  to  liis 
personal  fortunes,  or  future  prospects,  he  stood  firnd}'  by  his 
early  convictions,  and  what  he  held  as  best  for  the  community. 
However  zealous  he  might  have  been  in  the  cause  of  tcmj)ei'- 
ance,  there  was  at  no  time  acrimony  in  his  opposition  to 
rumselling,  nor  to  the  rumseller,  as  an  individual.  He  bore 
in  personal  feelings  against  the  practice,  and  to  the  individual, 
the  same  good  nature  which  at  all  times  marked  his  treatment 
of  every  one.  While  he  did  detest  the  business  of  rumselling, 
he  did  not  quite  give  up  to  the  feeling  that  there  was  abso- 
lutely no  good  in  the  man.  He  was  firm  and  decided  at  all 
times,  and  he  never  left  anything  undone  which  would  in  his 
belief  further  the  trium))h  of  the  temperance  cause.  He  never 
entertained  the  slightest  feeling  of  personal  fear,  or  that 
injury  to  his  property  would  come  fi'om  any  action  he  might 
take.  He  never  turned  to  the  right,  or  the  left,  to  placate 
those  who  entertained  different  views.  The  writer  of  this 
well  remembers  a  speech  he  delivered  in  the  police  court 
room  against  transferring  Hampden  Park  from  the  custody 
and  ownership  of  the  Hampden  Agricultuial  Society  to  the 
Springfield  Club,  fearing  that  the  change  might  bring  an 
influence  that  would  lead  some  from  sobriety  to  intemperance. 
It  was  a  heartfelt  appeal,  and  the  picture  he  drew  of  young 
men  who  could  not  resist  temptation,  and  were  led  to  give 
way  to  overmastering  appetite,  wns  ns  eloquently  expressed  as 
the  utterance  of  the  most  i)olishcd  orator.     The  words  were 


26  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

well  chosen,  iiiid  his  earnest  appeal  to  tlie  hetter  instincts  of 
the  aiidi(!nce  was  lull  of  |)at]i()S,  and  cari'ied  !i  deep  eoiivietion 
to  those  who  watch  the  residts  of  transj)iring-  events,  and  can 
see  some  of  the  causes  which  turn  the  young  from  good  to 
evil  habits.  His  advice  did  not  prevail,  but  that  sj)ecc]i  had 
its  influence,  and  it  will  not  be  foi'gotten.  Some  of  those  who 
voted  against  him  were  his  personal  and  Itusiness  friends,  but 
his  voice  had  been  lifted  against  what  he  feared  might  prove 
injurious  to  the  community,  without  regard  to  friendships,  or 
ditfering  o})inions. 

When  he  was  elected  mayoi-,  he  appointed  a  deacon  of  the 
First  Church,  Levi  P.  Rowland,  city  marshal,  and  active  steps 
were  taken  to  suppress  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors. 
Seizures  were  made  and  offenders  brought  to  justice.  People 
began  to  l»e  afraid  of  renting  property  in  which  to  store  the 
seized  liquor,  and  when  the  marshal  made  this  statement  to 
Mr.  Trask,  he  would  say,  "  Bring  it  down  and  put  it  into  the 
cellar  of  my  ofhcc."  The  marshal  did  so,  and  often  the  room 
in  which  it  was  stored  was  pretty  well  filled  with  barrels  and 
casks  of  all  kinds  of  li({Uors.  He  w'ould  say  in  regard  to  the 
cause  of  temperance,  "  The  only  way  is  to  keep  hammering, 
and  hang  until  the  last  breatli."  There  was  no  flinching  wnth 
him.  As  to  the  intemperate,  he  would  say,  no  matter  how 
low  a  man  went,  there  was  still  some  good  in  him.  If  a  man 
who  was  intoxicated  wanted  to  stop  and  shake  hands  with 
him,  he  would  take  him  kindly  by  the  hand,  and  say,  "  Now 
if  I  was  in  your  ])lace,  1  would  go  home  and  try  to  get  over 
this.     There  is  a  good  deal  of  a  man  in  you,  if  you   will  only 


TliASK  MEMORIAL.  27 

think  so."  His  advice  was  well  received,  even  if  the  recipient 
did  not  always  follow  it.  Few,  indeed,  even  among  the  li(|Uor 
sellers,  bore  him  any  ill  will.  IJe  never  entei'ed  into  angry 
disputes  with  them,  and  never  answered  back  when  attacked 
for  his  belief.  Tt  soon  became  kno\\n  that  he  was  sincere  in 
his  opinions,  meant  what  he  said,  always  clung  to  his  own 
views,  and  lived  in  strict  accordance  with  them. 

The  three  leading  characteristics  which  gave  him  iei)utation 
beyond  the  limits  of  Springfield,  were  his  views  concerning 
religion,  temperance  and  politics.  To  these  he  held  firmly, 
although,  in  his  daily  intercourse  with  friends  and  neighbors, 
he  was  in  no  sense  a  disputant.  Every  one  knew  his  opinions, 
but  he  never  brought  them  forward  in  ordinary  conversation, 
unless  there  was  an  appropriate  reason.  Touch  upon  either 
of  his  favorite  beliefs,  in  a  way  that  indicated  honest  accord 
and  sympathetic  interest,  and  the  door  to  his  confidence  and 
to  his  heart  was  widely  opened.  He  cast  his  first  vote  for 
president  in  1828,  when  John  Quincy  Adams  was  the  candi- 
date of  the  National  Republican  party,  and  Andrew  Jackson 
of  the  Democratic  party.  It  was  Adams'  and  Jackson's 
second  contest  for  i)residential  honors.  Adams  had  defeated 
Jackson  in  1824,  and  was  president  during  this  political 
campaign.  Political  opinions  were  generally  very  pronounced 
throughout  the  country.  Mr.  Trask  was  then  a  little  more 
than  a  year  in  his  majority,  and  he  took  interest  in  the  con- 
test. He  cast  his  vote  for  John  Quincy  Adams,  but  his 
favorite  candidate  was  defeated.  He  continued,  however, 
with  the  party,  and  in  1840  he  went  with  it  when  it  became 


28  rUASK  MEMORIAL. 

the  Wliiti,'  party,  which,  iiiidcr  its  new  iiaiiic,  and  tho  condition 
1)1'  the  country,  swept  its  candidate,  (Jen.  ^\'iliianl  Henry  IJaf- 
rison,  into  oil  ice,  over  Martin  Van  Buren.  IJis  marriage  in 
1825),  came  near  being  identified  with  Jackson's  entry  into 
office  as  the  chief  executive  of  the  nation.  It  occurred  the 
day  Ijefore  the  inauguration,  when  his  favorite,  hut  defeated 
candidate,  was  about  to  surrender  his  ot'licial  duties  at  the 
White  House  and  retire  to  his  Massachusetts  home.  He  con- 
tinued to  act  with  the  Whig  party  in  national  affairs  until  the 
change  of  events  converted  it  into  the  Republican  party, 
including  in  a  measure,  as  it  did,  the  more  anti-slavery 
elements  in  Massachusetts  of  both  the  Whig  and  the  Dem- 
ocratic ])arties — the  l)eginning  of  the  end  of  slavery  in  this 
country. 

He  voted  in  l8r)(!  for  Fremont,  in  ISiiU  and  in  18()4  for 
Abraham  Lincoln,  and  in  1868  for  Orant.  Before  the  presi- 
dential election  following  (irant's  first  election,  he  became 
dissatisfied  with  the  apparently  strong  drift  towards  what 
was  claimed  to  be  corruption  in  oftice.  The  Republican 
party  from  its  long  continuance  in  power  was  drifting  away 
from  its  early  professions.  Grant  was  renominated  in 
1872.  The  Democrats  nominated  Horace  CJreeley  as  their 
standard-bearer,  thinking,  no  doubt,  that  the  veteran  editor 
of  the  New  Yoik  Tribune,  who  as  much  as  any  single  person 
had  quickened  political  opinion  into  resistance  to  the  slave 
[)Ower  before  the  Rebellion,  might  draw  away  the  dissatisfied 
elements  in  the  Rejiul)licaii  party  and  carry  them  into  office 
again.     ^Ii*.  'J'rask  knew  the  man  and  admired  his  ()uts|)(>ken 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  29 

and  independent  opinions,  and  when  election  day  came,  he 
cast  his  vote  for  him,  pcrhai)s  as  much  as  a  protest  to  the 
action  of  his  own  party  as  from  a  helicf  that  he  would  be 
elected.  He  was  a  great  admirer  of  Charles  Sumner,  and  it 
is  possible  that  the  antagonism  between  Grant  and  Sunmer 
had  something  to  do  with  his  forming  an  unfavoral^le  opinion 
of  Grant's  services  as  President.  From  this  time  forward  he 
became  more  independent  of  party  affiliations,  and  while,  in 
the  main,  he  voted  for  the  subsequent  Republican  presidential 
candidates,  he  supported  St.  John,  the  prohibitory  candidate, 
in  the  camjjaign  of  1884. 

In  town,  city  and  state  elections  he  had  been  largely  guided 
by  his  convictions  on  the  temperance  question,  and  by  others 
more  closely  connected  with  local  and  state  affairs,  without 
sti'ict  regard  to  previous  jtarty  connections,  although,  when 
there  was  no  question  affecting  his  belief  under  consideration, 
he  voted  with  the  Whig  and  Repuljlican  parties;  but  as  years 
passed  he  grew  more  independent  of  party  lines.  Whatever 
view  he  held,  it  was  never  disguised,  and  his  action  was  al- 
ways from  a  high  sense  of  duty.  The  passage  of  the  fugitive 
slave  law,  the  return  of  the  runaway  slaves  to  their  masters, 
the  growth  of  anti-slavery  opinions  here  in  Massachusetts, 
helped  to  quicken  his  sense  of  duty.  Every  clement  of  his 
character  was  quickly  aroused  against  oppression  in  any  form, 
and  the  more  the  slavery  spirit  reached  toward  the  North,  and 
threatened  to  make  even  New  England  subservient  t(j  the 
demands  of  the  slaveholders,  the  more  active  and  pronounced 
were  his  views  concerninti'  that  uigantic  evil.     As  this  convic- 


30  TEASK  MEMORIAL. 

tion  ripened,  to  liini,  every  man  who  liad  the  courage  to  raise 
his  voice  for  freedom  was  hailed  as  a  messenger  of  truth. 
Every  runaway  negro  who  appealed  to  him  for  aid  was  helped 
on  his  way  towards  Canada,  then  the  only  asylum  of  the  op- 
pressed. He,  Dr.  Osgood,  Dr.  Jefferson  Church,  Dr.  E.  D. 
Hudson,  Rufus  Elmer,  and  others,  were  active  agents  in 
Springfield  of  the  "underground  railroad"  when  it  was  speed- 
ing scores  of  fleeing  colored  men  from  bondage  to  freedom. 

In  Fel)ruary,  1851,  there  occurred  the  most  disgraceful 
scene  that  ever  took  place  in  the  history  of  Springfield. 
George  Thompson  of  England,  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  who  in  private  life  was  above  reproach,  and  who 
had  rendered  valiant  service  in  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
British  colonies,  had  been  invited  by  Garrison  and  others  to 
come  to  this  country  and  speak,  under  their  auspices,  in  behalf 
of  abolition.  He  had  given  sixty  lectures  in  New  England 
without  disturbance,  save  at  Faneuil  Hall  in  Boston,  when  he 
came  to  Springfield  1o  fullill  an  engagement.  Rufus  Elmer, 
Amaziah  Mayo,  Dr.  Jefferson  Church,  Dr.  E.  D.  Hudson,  and 
others,  were  interested  in  his  coming.  Hampden  Hall  had 
been  engaged  for  the  meetings,  which  were  to  ho,  held  on 
Monday  and  Tuesday,  February  16  and  17.  The  proprietors 
of  the  American  Machine  Works  were  making  cotton  presses 
foi'  the  South.  The  Superintendent  of  the  United  States 
ArnuM-y  was  in  accord  with  the  southern  scintiment.  The 
local  newspaper  endeavored  to  convey  the  impression  that  it 
favored  the  sacred  righls  ol'  U've,  speech,  while  it  invoked  tin; 
aid  of  the  mob  lo  tiampic  free  speech  under  foot.     An  inflam- 


TRA8K  MEMORIAL.  31 

matory  handbill,  signed  "  Lexington,"  was  issued  and  scattered 
up  and  down  this  region,  from  Tliompsonville  to  South  Hadley, 
calling  out  the  "Regulators"  (the  mob),  and  notifying  them 
that  a  "  British  Serf,"  a  "  British  Spy,"  had  come  here  to  stir 
up  strife,  and  to  libel  our  groat  men  and  the  Christian  church, 
and  that  Irishmen  should  remember  Emmet.  A  committee 
called  on  Thompson,  after  his  arrival,  to  dissuade  him  from 
speaking,  and  the  selectmen,  with  one  exception,  voted  to 
direct  the  town  clerk  to  notify  the  owner  of  Hampden  Hall 
that,  if  he  permitted  its  use,  the  town  would  not  be  responsible, 
nor  would  it  pay  for  any  damage  that  might  be  done  to  it  by 
the  mob.  This  vote  of  the  Whig  selectmen  had  its  intended 
effect,  and  the  owner  of  the  hall  closed  its  doors  against  those 
who  had  previously  engaged  it.  The  press  continued  to  join 
with  the  mob  element  and  to  encourage  mob  violence.  About 
one  o'clock  of  the  Sunday  morning  before  the  meeting  was  to 
have  been  held,  a  crowd  gathered  on  Court  Square  and  sus- 
pended from  the  tallest  elm  two  effigies,  one  bearing  the 
name  of  "  George  Thompson,"  and  the  other  of  "  John  Bull." 
Here  began  Eliphalet  Trask's  real  education  in  anti-slavery 
opinions.  That  Sunday  morning,  while  on  his  way  to  church 
with  his  family,  he  saw  the  two  effigies,  and  feeling  it  was  a 
disgrace  to  the  town,  and  an  indignity  to  a  public  man,  he  re- 
quested his  family  to  continue  on  their  way  to  church,  while 
he  went  in  search  of  the  authorities  and  induced  them  to  cut 
down  the  suspended  figures.  George  Thompson  arrived  Mon- 
day forenoon,  and  stofjped  at  the  Hampden  House.  Wendell 
Phillips    and    Edmund    Quincy    of    Boston  followed    him    to 


32  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

Springfield  Monday  evening.  There  was  no  hall  open  to 
them,  and  no  meeting  was  held.  That  evening  tlie  rowdy 
element  of  the  town  again  gathered  on  Court  Square  and 
made  a  bonfire,  and  a  stone,  or  a  brick,  was  thrown  through 
the  window  into  Mr.  Thompson's  room,  which,  it  was  said, 
came  near  hitting  Dr.  Osgood,  who  had  gone  there  to  make 
a  call.  ^Ir.  Trask  met  Dr.  Osgood  in,  or  near,  the  hotel,  on 
his  way  to  Mr.  Thoni])Son's  room, and  both  were  present  when 
the  missile  was  thrown  through  the  window.  These  indigni- 
ties, and  the  throwing  of  an  egg  at  him,  as  he  was  about  to 
enter  the  train  at  the  depot,  on  his  way  to  Albany,  were  the 
extent  of  the  insidts  and  injuries  that  the  pro-slavery  sympa- 
thizers dared  to  offer  the  man  whom  they  characterized  as  a 
"  British  Spy,"  but  who  was  really  an  unselfish  patriot,  and 
who  had  consecrated  his  life  to  resisting  oppression  and 
to  teaching  iiis  fellow-mon  their  rights  and  the  truth. 

Tuesday  a  small  hall,  on  Sanford  street,  known  as  D wight's 
Hall,  was  opened,  its  owner  h;i\  iug  a  greater  love  of  fair  play 
than  he  had  fear  of  the  niol).  The  first  meeting  was  held  in 
the  forenoon,  with  scarcely  any  disturbance.  Rev.  Samuel 
Osgood,  j)astor  of  the  First  Church,  opened  the  meeting  with 
prayer,  and  Eliphalet  Trask  was  one  of  the  vice-presidents. 
In  the  afternoon  the  meeting  was  held  in  the  colored  church, 
on  Sanford  street,  which  would  seat  a  larger  number.  That 
meeting  was  also  only  slightly  disturbed.  Thompson  and 
Phillips  si)oke  at  both  meetings  with  great  force,  and  Mr. 
Phillijts  with  his  necustomed  eloquence  and  sarcasm.  Mr. 
Trask,  subseijuently  nlluding  to  this  event,  said,  that  the  time 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  33 

Thompson  came  to  S])riiigfield  he  was  not  so  much  interested 
in  the  anti-slavery  question  as  he  was  soon  afterward.  What 
he  at  first  objected  to  most  strongly,  was  that  Thompson  was 
not  allowed  to  speak  his  mind  unmolested.  He  was  a  firm 
believer  in  the  freedom  of  speech,  and  that  every  one  should 
have  the  right  to  express  his  opinions. 

The  whole  town  appears  to  have  been  greatly  interested  in 
what  had  been  done  by  the  mob — many  siding  with  it,  and 
others  justly  indignant.  Rev.  George  F.  Simmons,  pastor  of 
the  Unitarian  Church,  preached  two  sermons  on  "  Public 
Spirit  and  Mobs,"  which  were  published,  and  were  as  out- 
spoken as  could  be  expected  at  that  time,  when  his  congrega- 
tion were  not  particularly  interested  in  anti-slavery  principles. 
There  was,  however,  a  small  band  of  men,  representing  the 
abolition  and  the  free-soil  opinion  in  the  town,  who  firmly 
condemned  the  doings  of  the  mob,  and  what  had  been  done  to 
foster  mob  rule.  Mr.  Trask  did  not  attend  the  meeting  of  the 
aljolitionists  in  the  forenoon,  at  Dwight's  Hall,  where  he  was 
chosen  one  of  the  vice-presidents,  but  those  who  elected  him 
knew  that  he  would  uphold  free  speech.  He  had  previously 
given  the  use  of  the  Universalist  Church  to  the  abolitionists, 
when  they  wanted  to  hear  Stephen  S.  Foster,  and  his  wife, 
who  had  been  excluded  from  the  public  halls,  and  they  believed 
he  would  maintain,  what  they  held  as  a  sacred  right,  the  free 
discussion  of  public  concerns. 

This  was  not  only  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Trask's  decided 
views  concerning  slavery,  but  of  his  active  political  life,  which 
extended  over  the  following  ten  vears.     The  next  town  meet- 


34  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

iiig-,  held  in  the  fonowing-  Aj)ril,  turned  on  the  events  growing- 
out  of  the  Thompson  mob.  The  Whigs,  the  Democrats,  and 
the  Free  Soilers,  each  nominated  a  ticket  for  town  officers. 
The  United  States  Armory,  under  the  direction  of  the  super- 
intendent, closed  business  that  its  employes  might  attend  the 
annual  town  meeting.  Other  manufacturers  sent  their  men 
to  vote  down  those  who  favored  discussing  tlie  slavery  (jues- 
tion.  Mr.  Trask,  who  liiid  I(jng  been  ;i  Whig,  was  nominated 
as  one  of  the  candidates  for  selectmen  on  the  Whig  ticket, 
and  on  that  of  the  Free  Soilers.  The  meeting  took  ])lace  on 
April  7,1851,  and  the  Democrats  were  slightly  in  the  lead  of 
the  Whigs,  they  casting  a  little  rising  of  600  votes,  the  Whigs 
;ib()ui  100  less,  and  the  Free  Soilers  n  litth;  more  thjin  200. 
The  totiil  vote  cast  was  1,401),  and  xMr.  Ti-ask  received  750,  and 
was  the  only  candidate  elected.  An  adjourned  meeting  was 
held  on  the  fourteenth  of  A))ril,  but  there  was  no  choice.  At 
the  third  meeting,  held  A))ril  28,  William  \).  Calhoun  and 
Joel  l>r(»wn  were  chosen.  Mr.  |}rown  declined  to  serve 
iind  on  the  following  day,  April  20,  Theodore  Stebbins 
was  elected.  At  the  first  meeting  it  was  voted  to  choose 
a  board  of  five  men,  and  as  that  number  had  nijt  been  cl(;ct(;d 
the  town  clerk  hesitated  to  administer  the  oath  of  oflice  to 
those  who  had  been  elected  ;  but  he  changed  his  mind,  and  on 
the  fifth  of  May  they  were  duly  sworn.  Tliv.  newly  elected 
members  issued  a  call  for  a.  meeting,  which  was  hcjd  May 
10.  At  the  o|»ening.  a  sei'ies  of  resolulions  were  offeied. 
wliicli  were  adopted,  and  which  declared,  that  as  "no 
legal  board  had  been  chosen  to  succeed  the  old   board,  the 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  35 

attempt  by  three  individuals  to  assume  control  of  the  public 
affairs,  in  direct  opposition  to  a  recorded  vote  of  the  town,  is 
high-handed  and  revolutionary,  and  calculated  to  seriously 
embarrass  the  town  ;  that  we  deny  the  right  of  such  persons  to 
act  in  our  behalf;  and  that  this  bold  attempt  can  be  excused 
only  by  the  charitable  supposition  that  their  eagerness  for 
office  made  them  blind  to  the  rights  of  the  community  and 
the  interests  of  the  town."  It  was  voted  to  place  these  reso- 
lutions on  the  records  of  tbe  town,  but  at  the  next  meeting, 
held  May  30,  public  feeling  had  changed,  and  they  were 
expunged  from  the  records.  This  closed  the  heated  strife, 
but  all  the  i)atterns  which  the  Armory  had  at  Mr.  Trask's 
foundry  were  immediately  taken  away,  and  he  received  no 
more  work  from  the  Armory  for  several  years.  This,  how- 
ever, did  not  change  his  views  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  served  to 
strengthen  his  determination  to  stand  by  the  friends  of 
free  speech. 

At  a  town  meeting,  held  Marcli  1,  1852,  called  by  the  select- 
men, steps  were  taken  to  make  application  to  the  Legislature 
for  a  city  charter.  The  measure  passed  the  Legislature,  and 
Mr.  Trask  was  one  of  the  committee  to  divide  the  town  into 
wards,  previously  to  holding  the  election  for  city  officers. 
He  was  also  elected  alderman,  to  represent  Ward  Two  in  the 
first  city  government,  receiving  1,155  votes  out  of  the  total  of 
1,370.  In  1855  he  was  chosen  mayor.  The  whole  number  of 
votes  cast  were  1,393,  and  he  received  904.  The  opposing 
candidate  was  E.  I).  I>each.  In  the  autumn  of  185(!  he  was 
elected  Representative  to  the  Legislature,  receiving  1,333  votes. 


36  TEASK  MEMORIAL. 

lie  was  noiniiiatcd  at  the  next  city  election  for  mayor  for  tlie 
second  term,  but  Ansel  Phelps,  Jr., the  neniocralic  candidate, 
was  elected  over  him,  receiving  195  more  votes  than  were 
cast  for  Mr.  Trask. 

Mr.  Trask  had  for  a  few  years  identilied  himself  with  the 
American  party  in  State  politics,  and  was  a  sui)i)orter  of 
Henry  J.  CJardner  for  governor.  At  the  State  convention 
held  in  Boston  in  1856,  fifty-eight  votes  were  cast  for  him  as 
a  candidate  for  lieutenant-governor,  on  the  ticket  with  (lov- 
crnor  Gardner,  but  Henry  W.  IJenchley,  then  in  office,  was 
nominated,  he  receiving  144  votes  more  than  cast  for  Mr. 
Trask.  The  next  year  the  disintegration  in  the  American 
party  which  had  begun  was  openly  manifested,  and  the  anti- 
Gardner  party  held  a  convention  in  Boston,  June  16,  at  which 
N.  P.  Banks  was  nominated  for  governor  and  Eliphalet  Trask 
for  lieutenant-governor.  June  24  the  Republicans  held  a 
convention  at  Worcester,  and  nominated  Naihanii^l  P.  Banks 
for  governor,  and  Oliver  Warner  of  Nortliami)ton  for  licMiten- 
ant-governor.  In  the  autumn  a  committee,  representing  tlic 
anti-Gardner  party  and  the  Republicans,  met  and  made 
changes  in  the  State  ticket,  placing  Mr.  Trask  on  the  Re- 
publican ticket,  as  candidate  for  lieutenant-governor,  and 
Oliver  Wai'uer  on  the  ticket,  as  secretary  of  state,  (bus 
uniting  the  tsvo  political  interests  in  one  ticket.  The  entire 
Republican  ticket  was  elected  by  a  large  majority  over  op- 
j)osing  candidates.  Mr.  Trask  was  twice  subsequently  re- 
elected, serviug  dvu'ing  1858,  1859  and  1860,  through  the 
entire  administration  of  Governor  Banks,  and  taking  nmch 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  37 

of  the  practical  details  of  the  work  iijjon  himself.  Governor 
Banks  was  frequently  away,  and  in  such  absences  the  duties 
of  Governor  often  fell  upon  him. 

In  1860,  when  George  Aslimun  was  sent  to  the  Chicago 
convention  Avhicli  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  as  the  Re- 
publican candidate  for  ])i'esident,  Mr.  Trask,  at  his  urgent 
request,  accompanied  him  as  a  companion  to  Chicago.  At 
the  close  of  the  convention,  Mr.  Ashmun  as  president  of 
the  convention,  and  the  committee  which  had  been  duly  ap- 
pointed, went  to  Springfield  to  ofificially  inform  Mr.  Lincoln 
of  his  nomination.  Mr.  Trask,  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Ash- 
mun, made  one  of  the  party.  After  their  arrival  in  Spring- 
field they  called  upon  Mr.  Lincoln.  Each  was  presented  to 
Mr,  Lincoln,  and  Mr.  Trask,  who  was  six  feet  two,  when  in- 
troduced, remarked  as  he  took  Mr.  Lincoln  by  the  hand,  "I 
am  glad  to  meet  a  man  whom  I  can  look  uj)  toy  "  Six  feet 
four  in  my  stockings,"  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  quick  reply.  Mr. 
Trask,  as  did  others,  formed  a  very  favorable  opinion  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  at  the  time  of  their  visit  to  him,  which  grew  in  sub- 
sequent years  into  admiration. 

During  the  war  of  the  rebellion  he  was  actively  interested 
in  every  measure  which  would  crush  secession,  and  his  in- 
fluence and  aid  always  went  towards  sustaining  the  Govern- 
ment. He  frequently  went  to  Boston  to  recommend  to 
Governor  Andrew  such  men  as  he  thought  would  make  good 
officers,  and  he  had  the  ])crsonal  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  his  requests  were  granted.  Nothing  would  induce  him 
to  recommend  an  unfit  person  for  any  position  in  the  army. 


m  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

IJo  was  ol'tcii  sulicitud  to  u'o  to  Wasliiiiuluii  to  assist  in  ucUiiii;- 
some  unfortunate  soldier  out  of  trouhle.  oi'  to  have  llie  re- 
mains of  one  killed  in  battle  sent  home  to  friends,  and  during 
the  entire  war  he  was  active  in  doing"  what  he  could  to  assist 
the  unfortunate,  and  in  furthering  the  cause  which  every 
patriotic  Northern  man  felt  it  a  duty  to  uphold.  Distress  of 
every  nature  appealed  quickly  to  his  feelings,  and  when  his 
sympathies  were  aroused  he  took  hold  with  great  determina- 
tion to  relieve  those  who  had  appealed  to  him. 

The  last  time  he  held  an  elective  office  was  in  1870,  when 
he  served  on  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  making  four  terms  that 
he  sat  in  that  hoard  from  Ward  Two;  Ijut  he  always  con- 
tinued to  take  great  intei-est  in  both  state  and  national  poli- 
tics. He  was  a  warm  friend  of  Andrew  and  Sumner,  and 
firmly  held  to  the  cause  to  which  they  had  given  the  best 
years  of  their  lives.  He  often  acted  independently  in  both 
state  and  city  jjolities,  but  his  impulses  were  always  on  the 
side  which  he  held  as  best  for  the  Cily  and  State.  IJis  firm 
adherence  to  principle  often  brought  severe  criticism  in  the 
local  newspaper,  which,  however,  gave  him  no  pain  or  trouble, 
so  long  as  he  was  correctly  reported ;  but  when  misrepre- 
sented he  insisted  upon  being  set  right  before  the  community. 
In  all  i)()liti("il  disagi'cements  he  was  never  in  the  slightest 
degree  disturbed  by  the  criticism  of  his  opponents,  even  if 
they  at  times  became  angry  and  abusive. 

During  his  entire  residence  in  Springfield  he  fully  entered 
into  the  life  of  the  town  and  city,  and  whatever  interested  the 
people  in  gcnei-al,  interested  him.      He  was  an  active  member 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  ?,(.) 

of  tlic  ITorsc  Guards,  and  in  lH4i'  lieiiiciiant   in   flic  ('(»ni|iaiiv 
and  in  1 H;")!  its  caittain. 

He  took  i^Tcat  inlcrost  in  educational  mutleis,  and  desired 
that  not  only  his  own  children  hut  others  should  enjoy  good 
educational  advantages.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  discussion 
concerning  the  location  of  the  High  School  ])uilding,  when  it 
was  erected  on  Court  street,  and  not  a  few  were  opposed  to 
having  a  high  school,  and  during  this  conflict  of  opinion  he 
was  chosen  one  of  the  committee  to  erect  the  new  building. 
He  favored  building  a  good,  substantial  structure,  while  others 
opposed  him.  He  kept  on,  and  some  one  in  authority  for  a 
time  refused  to  audit  his  accounts.  He  advanced  his  own 
money  and  kept  the  work  progressing,  willing  to  take  his 
chances  of  getting  his  money  back.  Subsequently  he  was 
fully  reimbursed  by  the  town.  When  the  building  was  fin- 
ished, there  was  still  lacking  a  good  sidewalk.  At  that 
time  there  was  trouble  in  getting  brick ;  he,  however,  found 
one  dealer  who  had  just  enough  pressed  brick  on  hand  to 
make  the  walk.  On  estimating  the  cost  of  ordinary  and 
pressed  brick  he  found  the  difference  was  only  -fS  or  '14,  and 
he  ordered  the  walk  to  be  made  of  the  pressed  brick.  This 
raised  another  accusation  of  extravagance,  and  there  was 
some  hesitation  about  paying  the  bill.  Mr.  Trask  told  the 
authoi'ities  that  they  might  estimate  the  cost  of  the  two 
kinds  and  he  would  pay  the  amount  in  excess  of  ordinary 
bricks.  The  amount  was  carefully  figured  up,  and  the  differ- 
ence found  to  be  so  small  that  nothing  more  was  said  about 
it,  and  the  town  paid  the  bdl. 


40  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

It  was  during  his  administration  as  mayor  thai  the  City 
Hall  was  l)uilt.  and  he  favored,  in  that  as  in  oilier  matters 
with  which  he  had  been  connected,  thoroughness  of  work. 
He  wanted  an  illuminated  dial  on  the  clock,  so  that  the  time 
might  be  seen  at  night  as  well  as  by  day.  It  would  cost  -$300 
more ;  but  as  it  could  not  be  readily  obtained  he  yielded  to 
the  views  of  others.  The  delivery  of  the  bell  had  l)cen  de- 
layed, but  it  finally  came  just  in  time  to  be  rung  at  the  dedi- 
cation. There  had  been  some  intimation  that  the  dedication 
should  be  made  a  very  select  affair.  To  this  Mr.  Ti-ask  said, 
"  No  ;  this  hall  is  for  the  people  ;  let  every  one  come."  Ilis 
view  was  adopted,  and  the  people  were  in  attendance. 

In  185G  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Gardner  one  of  the 
trustees  of  the  Northam])ton  Lunatic  Hospital,  in  which 
capacity  he  served  for  nineteen  years,  until  1875.  He  had 
charge  of  the  erection  of  the  buildings,  sometimes  furnish- 
ing funds,  before  the  accounts  could  be  audited  and  passed 
by.  the  state  authorities,  to  those  in  need  of  payment.  He 
was  an  active  member  of  the  board  during  his  entire  ad- 
ministration, and  was  as  zealous  in  administering  its  affairs 
as  he  would  have  been  in  the  management  of  his  own  busi- 
ness. His  sound,  practical  advice  carried  weight,  with  the 
other  members  of  the  board,  to  such  an  extent,  that  it  has 
been  said  of  him  by  one  who  had  occasion  to  know,  that 
"  he  was  the  whole  board." 

In  1870  he  was  appointed  by  Mayor  W.  L.  Smith  one  of 
the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Springfield  City  Hospital  on 
its  organization,  and  by  the  boai'd   he  was  chosen   its   tirst 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  41 

president,  which  office  he  held  until  1879,  giving-  during 
his  term  of  service  the  same  careful  attention  which  marked 
his  connection  with  other  institutions. 

He  was  connected  with  the  Hampden  Savings  ]>ank  in  an 
official  position  from  its  organization  to  the  close  of  his  life. 
He  was  one  of  its  incorporators  when  it  was  chartered,  May 
21,  1852,  and  at  the  first  meeting  held.  May  29,  1852,  he  was 
elected  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents,  which  office  he  held  until 
February  IG,  1871,  when  he  was  elected  President.  He  con- 
tinued as  such  up  to  his  death.  He  was  made  a  member  of 
the  Finance  Committee  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Trustees, 
June  5, 1852,  upon  which  he  served  faithfully  until  his  death,  a 
period  of  more  than  thirty-eight  years — a  service  which  he  gave 
freely  and  gratuitiously  for  the  sole  good  of  the  institution  and 
of  those  who  were  the  bank's  depositors.  An  excellent  portrait 
of  him  hangs  in  the  banking  rooms.  The  records  of  the  Fi- 
nance Committee  show  that  his  habit  of  attending  faithfully 
to  all  his  duties  was  continued  to  the  end,  and  that  nearly 
every  loan  and  investment  made  by  the  bank,  during  his  term 
of  service,  was  passed  upon  by  him  and  received  his  approval. 

He  was  a  Director  of  the  First  National  Bank,  of  the 
Agawam  Pa})cr  Company,  and  of  the  Hampden  Mutual  As- 
surance Company,  where  he  gave  his  services  with  as  much 
interest  and  regularity  as  characterized  all  his  other  busi- 
ness transactions.  He  was  President  of  the  Agawam  Paper 
Company  from  its  organization,  in  1858,  up  to  his  death,  and 
during  the  more  than  thirty  years  in  office  he  never  failed 
being  present  at  its  annual  meetings. 


4-i  TUASK   MEMORIAL. 

Few  men  n);iintain  siicli  \ oiitlil'iilnoss  of  fcclinti'  up  \o  ilio 
close  of  life  as  did  Mr.  Tiask.  He  had  a  warm  iidci'cst  in 
the  world's  affairs,  and  enjoyed  the  soeiety  of  his  friends 
down  to  his  last  illness.  Struggles  for  larger  liberty  in  its 
truest  sense,  for  higher  conditions  on  the  part  of  the  people, 
always  interested  him  Among  the  many  newspajjer  clip- 
pings which  lie  had  })i"esei'vcd,  and  which  were  found  after 
his  death,  was  one  relating  to  the  struggles  in  Ireland  during 
the  advocacy  of  the  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Protestant 
Church,  as  a  government  institution,  running  back  to  events 
which  took  -place  more  than  thirty  years  ago.  His  last  at- 
tendance at  a  public  meeting  in  the  City  Ilall,  was  to  listen 
to  an  address  on  Irish  affairs  by  T.  1*.  O'Connor,  and  others, 
only  a  short  time  before  he  died,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
meeting  he  passed  his  contribution  to  the  collector.  During 
his  last  sickness  his  mind  seemed  to  go  back  to  that  meet- 
ing. "  Sec  there,"  motioning  to  a  member  of  the  family, 
not  long  Ijefore  he  died,  "  they  are  passing  the  hat ;  got 
a  live  ?  Put  it  in ;  perhaps  they  will  get  it.  and  perhaps 
not ;    but  put  it  in." 

In  his  long  business  career  in  Spriuglield  he  came  in  con- 
tact with  a  larger  part  of  its  inhabitants,  and  no  one  had  more 
sincere  friends  who  were  always  j)lcascd  to  meet  or  exchange 
a  passing  word  with  him.  To  more  than  a  usual  degree  he 
embodied  the  highest  character  of  New  England  manhood. 
lie  was  in  its  best  sense  a  typical  New  Englander,  maintain- 
ing the  sturdy  convictions,  the  habits  of  industry,  and  of 
fi'ugalily,  the  characteristics  of  the  early  settlers.     He  seemed 


TRASK  MEMOh'IAL.  48 

to  look  tliroiiiili  condictiiiu'  interests  direetly  at  tlio  riiilits  of 
his  l"(!llo\v-ineii.  He  loved  to  see  them  prosper  and  lullv 
enjoy  those  riglits  which  hud  been  promised  to  every  one 
who  had  cast  his  lot  and  his  life  in  his  own  nei<rhborhood. 
His  own  life  was  pledged  to  duty  and  to  law.  His  exami)le 
shall  l)e  a  living  inspiration  to  those  who  follow  him,  and  the 
good  that  must  come,  his  best  memorial. 

He  always  had  the  same  kindly  greeting  for  every  one, 
whatever  his  station  in  the  community.  It  was  his  custom 
for  years  to  attend  the  Sunday  afternoon  services,  and  often- 
times address  the  i)risoners,  at  the  county  jail,  and  as  he 
passed  down  the  aisle  of  the  chapel  to  take  his  seat,  it  was 
touching  to  see  the  men  lean  forward  and  stretch  out  their 
hands  to  him,  to  receive,  perhaps,  the  only  smile,  kind  word 
and  friendly  clasp  that  came  to  them,  other  than  from  their 
chaplain  or  keepers,  during  the  week.  He  was  particularly 
interested  in  young  men  and  women,  those  of  his  own  church, 
and  others  whom  he  fre(iuently  saw  about  the  city.  He 
seemed  to  have  almost  the  same  watchful  interest  in  their 
habits  and  ])ursuits  as  if  they  had  belonged  to  him  by  tic  of 
kinshij),  having  always  a  word  of  praise  for  the  good,  and  re- 
gret for  the  evil  or  misfortune  that  came  to  them.  In  his 
life  he  had  the  same  genial  and  kindly  nature.  He  was,  so  to 
speak,  one  of  the  children  of  his  own  family,  always  youthful 
in  feeling  and  expression ;  interested  in  everything  that  his 
children  were  engaged  in,  and  as  his  family  were  growing  to 
manhood  and  womanhood  he  would  often  say  to  them,  "  Have 
all  the  company  you  want,  only  have  them  at  home."     When- 


44  TRASK   MEMORIAL. 

over  he  and  his  wife  were  leaving  home,  and  the  family  were 
to  be  left  to  look  after  themselves  for  a  time,  his  last  word  to 
them  would  be,  "Have  just  as  good  a  time  as  you  can  while 
we  are  gone,  only  leave  the  outside  walls  standing."  He  was 
full  of  mirth,  and  always  ready  to  help  on  whatever  partook 
of  it.  Often  when  young  people  had  casually  gathered  at  his 
house,  with  his  children,  he  would  say,  "  Now  let  us  have  a 
little  dance,"  and  he  was  always  an  interested  spectator.  He 
had  great  fondness  for  little  children,  and  great  pride  in  his 
grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren,  and  was  never  dis- 
turbed by  the  noise  they  made.  Time  and  the  busy  hand  of 
improvement,  has  robl)ed  the  old  home  outwardly  of  all  that 
was  attractive  in  its  surroundings,  until  it  is  hardly  possible  to 
fancy,  that  it  could  ever  have  been  a  pleasant,  homelike  spot, 
with  no  puff  of  smoke  or  shriek  of  locomotive  to  mar  its  quiet. 
But  within  the  remembrance  of  all  his  children,  especially  of 
the  older  ones,  it  was,  while  an  unpretentious  house,  yet  roomy 
and  pleasant,  on  a  rpiiet  street,  with  a  garden  of  fruit  and 
flowei'S  at  the  side,  and  back  of  that  a  long  kitchen  garden, 
with  its  trim  rows  of  vegetables  and  waving  corn,  sloping 
down  the  bank,  to  the  very  edge  of  the  blue  waters  of  the 
Connecticut.  To  the  children  and  grandchildren,  for  whom 
Ibis  little  book  is  chiefly  designed, there  are  wilhin  those  walls 
a  thousand  memories  of  sweet  and  pleasant  things,  and  many 
sad  and  sacred  ones,  which  lead  down  to  the  very  close  of  the 
lives  of  the  two  who  made  it  a  home  to  all  who  came  within 
its  doors.  The  many  anniversaries  of  their  uiarriagc  which 
were  celebrated  as  the  years  rolled  l)y  are  among  the  pleasant- 


TRA8K  MEMORIAL.  45 

est.  The  thirty-fifth  was  made  a  day  of  rejoicing,  as  was  also 
the  golden  wedding  day,  when  their  house  was  thrown  open 
and  nearly  every  member  of  their  family  was  with  them, 
together  with  friends  and  neighbors,  until  the  house  was 
filled.  And  again,  ten  years  later,  when  the  sixtieth  anniver- 
sai-y  was  reaehed,  their  family  and  nearest  relatives  gathered 
about  them,  and  a  delightful  evening  was  passed,  but  owing 
to  the  failing  health  of  Mrs.  Trask  this  was  the  last  gathering 
of  the  home  circle,  although  they  were  sp&,red  to  pass  on 
earth  their  sixty-first  anniversary  together,  but  before  the 
close  of  another  year  they  were  both  taken  to  begin  the 
home  life  beyond  with  those  of  their  family  who  had  gone 
before. 

The  head  of  the  house,  who  in  his  younger  days  was  the 
protector  and  father,  became  in  his  age  like  the  patriarchs 
of  old,  around  whom  gathered  all  who  needed  the  kindly  in- 
fluence of  a  home.  And  who  can  say  how  much  the  man, 
who  outside  of  home  was  peculiarly  strong  and  self-poised, 
relying  only  on  his  own  powers,  seldom  or  never  seeking  the 
advice  and  counsel  of  others,  but  forming  his  own  opinion  of 
men  and  affairs,  by  the  clear  light  of  his  own  integrity  and 
honest  faith  in  the  belief  of  "good  in  everything,"  who  can 
say  how  much  he  leaned  on  the  quiet,  gentle  woman,  who  was 
indeed  a  helpmeet  for  him  ?  Certainly  it  was  only  when  she 
began  to  turn  from  the  things  of  the  present  to  those  of  the 
past,  and  long  to  '"  go  home,"  that  he  also  began  to  show 
signs  of  age  and  weakness,  as  if,  when  she  went,  he,  too,  must 
follow.     And  when  at  last  death  came  for  her,  it  was  to  him 


46  rHASK  MEMORIAL. 

the  signal  of  the  harvest.     "  In  the  evening  he  is  cut   down 
and  withereth." 

He  gave  to  her  all  that  the  most  loving  care  could  give — a 
tender  burial ;  and  a  few  daj^s  after,  holding  the  reins  him- 
self for  the  last  time,  he  drove,  through  bitter  cold,  to  her 
grave  to  see  that  all  was  in  order  and  as  he  would  have 
it.  Life  ended  there  for  him.  The  strong  frame  that  had 
held  itself  so  well,  hardly  ever  knowing  sickness,  suddenly 
weakened  and  with  feeble,  hastening  ste))s  he  followed  on 
where  she  had  led. 

"  Only  the  memory  of  the  just, 
Smells  sweet  and  blossoms  in  the  dust." 


CHILDREN  OF  ELIPHALET  AND  RUBY  TRASK. 


Charles  B.  Thask,  born  September  24,  1830,  died  May 
30,  1858. 

Edwin  E.  Trask,  born  February  5,  1832,  died  February 
18,  1860. 

LuRANCiE  Trask,  born  August  16,  1833,  died  January 
29,  1869. 

Albert  Trask,  born  July  6,  1835,  died  July  5,  1836. 

Albert  Trask,  born  February  19,  1837. 

Emx^ia  Trask,  born  September  18,  1839. 

Lauraette  Trask,  born  May  9,  1842. 

Harriet  F.  Trask,  born  March  23,  1845,  I 

/  Twins. 
Henry  F.  Trask,  born  March,  23,  1845,    j 

Ellen  A.  Trask,  ])orn  Feljruary  5,  1847. 


FUNERAL  SERVICES. 


FUNERAL  SERVICES   OF   MRS.    FRASK. 


The  funeral  of  Mrs,  Trask  was  held  at  her  late  home  on 
Water  street,  November  29,  Rev.  M.  Crosley,  her  pastor, 
conducting  the  services. 

Mr.  Crosley  spoke  in  substance,  as  follows : 
We  feel  at  such  times  as  this  as  though  there  was  nothing 
but  darkness  surrounding  us.  We  can  sec  so  little  outside 
our  own  sorrows.  But  when  we  come  to  pause  and  reflect, 
we  find  that  there  is  something  for  us  to  cling  to  above  and 
beyond  our  immediate  surroundings.  There  is  an  outlook 
for  us  even  from  the  lowest  and  darkest  valley.  We  can 
Avith  the  eye  of  faith  penetrate  the  clouds  and  discover  the 
fact  that  the  sun  is  still  shining.  Our  loved  and  al)sent  ones 
are  above  the  clouds.  We  are  in  the  valley  and  sliadow  of 
what  is  called  death.  It  is  only  a  valley  and  the  darkness 
with  which  we  are  surrounded  is  only  a  shadow.  There  is 
light  beyond,  or  there  coidd  be  no  shadow.  Our  departed 
sister,  the  mother  and  wife,  has  passed  on  iip  the  mountain 
side  where  there  is  more  light,  and  where  she  begins  to  see 
her  way  more  clearly.  She  is  at  rest  and  "  at  home  "  with 
tliose  Avho  have  gone  on  before.  Mrs.  Trask  will  be  greatly 
missed,  not  only  in  this  house  where  she  was  so  true  and 
faithful,  l)ut  also  in  the  society  in  which  she  moved  ;  in  the 
church,  and  among  her  friends,  who  were  many.  Her 
motherhood  was  of  the  ])est  type ;  she  was  loyal  and  devoted 
as  a  wife,  and   loving  and  true  as  a  friend.     While  she  was 


52  TRASK  MEMOniAL. 

constant  in  the  (lischar^e  of  hor  homo  duties,  she  did  not 
forget,  nor  neglect  the  duties  she  owed  the  community  sur- 
rounding her.  She  performed  faithful  service  in  the  church 
of  her  choice,  and  in  the  sick-rooms  among  her  neighbors 
and  friends.  She  was  ready  and  willing  to  render  aid  and 
sympathy  where  they  were  needed.  She  lived  well,  and  those 
bereft  will  rise  up  and  call  her  blessed.  She  has  at  last 
found  the  home  for  which  she  was  looking  and  sighing,  she 
has  found  those  she  loved  in  her  childhood,  that  i)asscd  on 
before  her.  She  passed  on  within  the  vail  very  quietly  and 
peacefully.  The  golden  bowl  was  broken  piece  by  piece. 
The  threads  of  life  gave  way  one  by  one  until  all  were  gone, 
and  her  immortal  spirit  was  freed  from  this  bondage  of  cor- 
ruption into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God.  Iler 
memory  so  precious  we  leave  in  this  stricken  home  and  with 
her  friends,  her  lifeless  form  we  convey  to  the  ground  from 
whence  it  came,  and  we  leave  her  spirit  with  God  wdio  gave  it. 


Hymn — "Consolation." 

Come   unto   me,   when   shadows   darkly  gather, 
When  the  sad  heart,   is  weary  and  distrest. 

Seeking   for  comfort  from   your   heavenly   Father, 
Come   unto   me   and   I   will   give   you   rest. 


Large  are  the  mansions,   in  thy  Father's  dwelling; 

Glad  are  the  homes  that  sorrows  never  dim; 
Sweet  are  the  harps  in   holy  music  swelling; 

Soft  are   the  tones   which   raise  the  heavenly  hymn. 


There  like  an   Eden   hlossoming  in  gladness. 

Bloom  the  fair  flowers,  the  earth   too  rudely  pressed 

Come  unto  me  all  ye  who  di-oop  in  sadness, 
Come  unto  me  and  I  will  give  you  rest. 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  53 

liyii)  n — '  •  'J'  1 1 E  R  !•:  i  s  a  La  x  d  I  m  mo  rt  a  l.  " 

There  is  a  land  immortal, 

The  beautiful  of  lands, 
Beside  its  ancient  portal 

A  silent  sentry  stands, 
He  only  can  undo  it 

And  open  wide  the  door, 
And   mortals   who   pass   through  it 

Are   mortals   never  more. 


Though    dark   and   drear   the   i)assage 

That  Icadcth   to  the  gate, 
Yet  grace  comes  with  the  message, 

To  souls  that   watch  and  wait, 
And  at  the  time  appointed 

A  messenger  comes  down, 
And  leads  the  Lord's  annointed, 

From   cross   to   glory's   crown. 

Their  sighs   arc   lost  in   singing, 

They're  blessed  in   their  tears, 
Their  journey  heavenward   winging. 

They   leave   on   earth   their  fears. 
Death   like   an   angel   seemeth, 

"We   welcome   thee,"    they  cry, 
Their  face   with  glory  beamoth, 

'Tis  life  for  them  to  die. 


'•  Only  Waiting." 

Only   waiting   till   the   shadows 

x\.re  a  little  longer  grown, 
Only  waiting  till   the  glimmer 

Of  the  day's  last  beam  is  Hown, 
Till  the  night  of  earth  is  faded 

From  the  heart  once  full  of  day, 
Till  the  stars  of  heaven  are  breaking 

Through  the  twilight  soft  and  gray. 


54  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

Only   waiting   till   the   reapers 

Have  the  last  sheaf  gathered  liDiiie; 
For   the   summer-time   is   faded 

And  the  autumn  winds  have  come; 
Quickly,   reapers,   gather  (juickly 

Tliese  last  ripe  hours  of  my  heart, 
For  the    bloom   of  life  is   withered 

And   1   hasten   to   depart. 

Only   waiting   till   the   shadows 

Are   a  little   longer  grown, 
Only   waiting   till   the  glimmer 

Of  the  day's  last  beam  is  fiown, 
»  Then  from  out  the  gathered  darkness 

Holy  deathless  stars  shall  rise, 
By   whose   light  my   soul   shall   gladly 

Tread  its   i^athway  to  the  skies. 


FUNERAL    SERVICES    OF    ELIPHALET    TRASK 

AT  ST.  PAUL'S  CHURCH,  SPRINGFIELD,  MASS., 
December  12,  isyfi 


I.  Organ    Voluiitary. 

II.  Chant  (male  voices^ 

"  Ouii  Days  on"  Earth." 

Our  days  on  earth  are  as  a  sliadow,  and  there  is  none  abiding. 
We  are  as  yesterday,  there  is  but  a  step  between  us  and  deatli. 
Man's  days  are  as  grass,  as  a  flower  of  the  licld  so  he  flourisheth. 
He  appeareth  for  a  little  time,  and  then  vanislietli  away. 

Watch !  for  ye  know  not  what  hour  your  Lord  may  come. 

Be  ye  also  ready,  for  in  such  an  hour  as  ye  think  not  the  Son  of  Man 

Cometh. 
It  is  the  Lord's,  let  him  do  what  seemeth  him  good. 
The  Lord  gave,  the  Lord  hath  taken  away,  blessed  be  the  name  of  the 

Lord.     Amen. 

III.  Scripture  Readings,  by  the  Rev.  Marion  Crosley. 

IV.  Prayer,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  A.  A.  Miner. 

Let  us  unite  in  prayer.  Reverently,  0  God,  do  we  bow  at 
Thine  alter,  sensible  that  Thou  hast  come  very  nigh  unto  us, 
that  Thou  art  overshadowing  us  by  Thy  Holy  Spirit,  and 
proffering  consolation  to  these  hearts  so  deeply  bereaved. 
Devoutly  do  we  thank   Thee,  great   God,  that  in  every  ex- 


56  TBASE  MEMORIAL. 

igency  of  lite  we  luay  draw  nigh  unto  Thee ;  that  it  is  Thy 
hand  that  has  fashioned  us;  it  is  Thou  who  didst  breathe 
into  us  the  breath  of  life,  to  make  us  to  become  living  souls, 
didst  implant  Thine  own  image  within  us,^and,  by  the  fac- 
ulties bestowed  upon  us,  hast  made  us,  by  no  ligure  of  rheto- 
ric, by  no  courtesy  of  language,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth, 
Thy  children ;  that  our  souls  in  every  exigency  go  out  unto 
Thee,  as  the  tendrils  of  the  vine  reach  out  after  and  cling  to 
the  oak  by  which  it  is  supported.  We  praise  Thy  great  name 
that  we  can  thus  lean  upon  Thee ;  that  Thou  art  a  very  })rcs- 
ent  help  in  every  time  of  need;  that  we  may  pillow  our 
heads  upon  Thy  bosom ;  and  though  Thou  oftentimes  leadest 
us  in  dark  pathways,  oftentimes  through  mysterious  provi- 
dences, and  liftest  to  our  lii)S  ofttimes  the  waters  of  bitter- 
ness, and  we  know  not  whither  we  go,  yet  Thou,  0  God, 
knowest  all  things.  Thou  deelarest  the  end  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  from  ancient  times  the  things  that  are  not  yet 
done,  saying,  my  counsel  shall  stand,  and  I  will  do  all  my 
pleasure. 

Help  us,  great  God,  to  bow  in  subordination  to  Thy  doings. 
Help  us  in  this  our  affliction.  Help  these  children,  these 
grandchildren,  and  especially  Thine  handmaiden  who,  under 
the  shock  of  this  great  bereavement,  is  deprived  of  being 
present  to  share  in  these  ceremonies.  Upon  them  all  com- 
mand Thy  Holy  Spirit  to  rest.  Sanctify  to  them  the  sacred 
memories  of  the  venerable  father  now  removed  from  them, 
and  help  them,  we  pray  Thee,  to  cherish  his  life  and  example, 
the  manifold  counsels  that  have  fallen  upon  their  ears,  in  tl;e 
period  of  youth  and  of  early  manhood  and  womanhood ;  and 
that  those  counsels  may  be  more  to  them  in  the  years  that 
shall  come,  even  than  they  have  been  in  the  years  that  are 
past ;  that  they  may  feel  that  Thou  hast  dealt  graciously  with 
them,  in  that  Thou  hast  preserved  the  venerable  and  honored 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  57 

sire  to  nearly  four  score  and  five  years,  that  Thou  hast  made 
his  life  rich  from  the  beginning  unto  the  end,  in  the  holy  pre- 
cepts of  Thy  word,  in  the  gracious  influences  that  lie  in  the 
sweet  testimonies  of  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus 
Christ.  0  (ill,  we  pray  Thee,  their  clian'bers  of  memory  with 
all  the  gracious  pictures  of  blessedness  which  the  dear  father  and 
mother,  the  latter  so  recently  gone  from  their  presence,  have  left 
with  them,  and  make  them,  though  dead,  yet  to  speak  in  the 
tender  tones  of  parental  affection,  parental  wisdom,  parental 
example,  and  i)arental  (idelity,  before  Thee.  Be  with  all  of 
them,  the  older  and  the  younger.  Help  the  younger  to  grow 
uj)  in  the  manliness  of  that  character  and  example  which  have 
now  been  left  in  sacred  testimony  unto  them.  Make  them, 
we  pray  Thee,  as  they  honor  the  name  that  they  cherish  with 
such  affection,  to  assiduously  copy  the  example  which  has 
been  set  before  them. 

While  we  invoke  Thy  blessing,  gracious  God,  to  rest  upon 
these  knit  unto  Thy  departed  servant  by  all  the  holy  ties  of 
family  relationship  and  of  consanguinity,  we  pray  that  upon 
this  vast  assembly  of  citizens,  fellow-citizens,  so  many  of 
them  having  journeyed  lifelong  with  Thy  servant  who  has 
fallen  before  them.  Thy  blessing  may  rest.  Sanctify  to  them 
all  the  experiences  of  the  years  gone  by,  all  the  hopes  that 
have  Ijcen  begotten  by  their  successful  endeavors,  and  by  all 
the  blessings  that  crown  duty  well  performed.  We  pray  that 
Thou  wilt  sanctify  the  lessons  of  this  life  to  all  the  neighbors 
and  acquaintances  this  day  here  before  Thee,  and  to  all  those 
who  are  prevented,  by  whatever  cause,  from  mingling  their 
sympathies  with  these  here  assembled. 

We  ask  Thee,  gracious  God,  that  the  life  and  example  of 
Thy  servant,  his  zeal  in  the  interest  of  this  city,  in  the  interest 
of  its  institutions,  its  charities  and  its  morals,  may  remain 
with  those  who  shall  succeed  him,  among  the  younger  mem- 


58  THASK  MEMORIAL. 

bcrs  of  this  inunicipality.  that  they  may  all  grow  up  in  patriot- 
ism and  honor  and  glory  before  Thee. 

And  while -we  invoke  Thy  blessing-  to  rest  upon  the  city  at 
large,  we  especially  pray  Thy  favor  upon  the  Christian  church 
of  which  Thy  servant  was  an  honored  and  lifelong  sujjporter. 
Wc  thank  Thee  for  what  he  has  been  to  this  individual  church, 
for  the  strength  and  stability  he  has  proffered  it  so  generously 
and  persistently  year  after  year,  from  its  very  foundations  to 
the  present  hour.  We  thank  Thee  for  what  he  has  been  to 
our  church  at  large,  dispersed  throughout  the  commonwealth 
and  nation,  present  at  its  great  occasions,  always  honoring 
those  occasions  by  that  presence,  often  presiding  over  them. 
We  pray  that  Thou  wilt  sanctify  the  memories  that  will  remain 
in  the  hearts  of  all  the  older  members  of  our  church  universal, 
and  sanctify  them  to  our  individual  and  spiritual  profit. 

Wilt  Thou  hear  us,  gracious  God,  in  heaven  Thy  dwelling- 
l»lace,  and  give  unto  us  answei'S  of  peace  more  alnmdantly 
than  we  can  ask  or  even  think,  and  unto  Thy  holy  name, 
tlirough  Him  who  hath  redcemei^l  us,  will  wc  render  ceaseless 
i)raise.     Amen. 


V.  Singing. 


Ilyinu — "AuiDK  vvrni  Me." 


Al»i(lu  with  lue,  fast  lulls  the  ovcntide, 
The  daiktiess  deepens.     Lord  with  me  abide! 
When  other  helpers  fail,  and  comforts  llee, 
Help  of  the  helpless,  O  abide  with  me. 


Swift  to  its  close  ebbs  out  life's  little  day; 
Earth's  joys  f;row  dim,  its  <;!ories  fade  away: 
Change  and  decay,  in  all  around  I  see; 
O  Thou  who  chaugest  not,  abide  with  me. 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  59 

Hold  Thou  thy  cross  before  my  closin<?  eyes; 
8hiiic  thro'  the  gloom,  ami  point  me  to  the  skies; 
Heaven's  morning  breaks,  and  earth's  vain  shadows  llee; 
In  life,  in  death,  O  Lord,  abide  with  me. 


ADDRESS  BY  THE  REV.  MARION  CROSLEY. 

We  are  here  under  a  cloud.  I  have  been  makhig-  every 
eifort  within  my  power  to  restrain  my  feelings  so  as  to  be 
able  to  speak  a  fitting  word  upon  this  occasion.  I  felt  from 
the  first  that  I  could  not  conduct  these  services  alone,  because 
the  feeling  came  over  me  that  I  was  one  of  the  mourners  in 
this  great  procession  of  mourning  ones.  Although  I  have  been 
the  })astor  of  this  church  only  a  year  and  three-quarters,  yet 
it  was  my  privilege  to  form  the  acquaintance  of  our  brother 
more  thim  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  in  one  of  our  general 
conventions.  1  have  met  him  since  at  a  number  of  them,  as 
tiiey  have  been  hekl  Ivist  and  West,  North  and  South.  1  have 
served  with  him  on  committees  at  ditferent  times,  and  always 
found  him  thoughtful,  prudent  and  far-seeing  in  the  various 
affairs  of  our  whole  (duuch.  He  was  always  quiet  and  unas- 
suming at  these  gatherings,  consuming  little  time  in  the 
deliberationB.  His  wisdom  and  judgment  were  valual)le  in 
the  committee  room.  It  was  from  the  quiet  committee 
room  that  his  benign  influence  went  out  far  and  wide  in  our 
church.  I  find  the  same  to  be  true  all  around  in  his  every- 
day life.  The  iniluence  he  exerted  was  always  quiet  and  im- 
pressive. When  1  came  to  this  city  for  the  first  time,  and 
stood  in  this  pulpit,  his  face  was  the  only  one  I  had  ever  seen 
before,  so  that,  taking  it  altogether,  up  to  that  time  and  fnun 
that  time  to  the  present  our  brother  has  been  very  much  to 
me,  in  i'riendshii),  in  faith,  and  in  a  common  cause;  and  in 
some   indefinable  wav  he   seems   nearer   to   me   than  anv  one 


00  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

else  ill  all  our  communion.  I  feel  deei)ly  his  loss  as  a  friend 
as  an  adviser,  as  a  counselor,  as  a  brother,  and  as  a  memher  of 
this  church  and  congregation  my  loss  is  a  personal  one  in  a 
very  broad  sense,  and  it  is  with  extreme  dilhcuUy  that  I  even 
attempt  to  speak  words  of  consolation  in  this  presence,  as  1 
am  in  sjjeeial  need  of  them  myself. 

As  1  look  over  this  congregation,  as  1  look  into  your  faces, 
and  ujjon  these  symbols,  what  more  need  1  say  with  reference 
to  the  departed  ?  These  tears,  the  tears  that  have  fallen  since 
last  Tuesday  night  are  symbols  deeper  and  more  express- 
ive than  language,  with  reference  to  the  life  and  labors  of 
him  who  has  gone  from  us.  Everything  around  us  in  this  room, 
speaks  to  us  of  his  worth,  of  how  his  life  seemed  to  touch 
everybody  in  this  community.  The  life  he  lived  came  in  con- 
tact with  all,  great  and  small,  high  and  low.  He  was  the 
friend  of  all,  no  matter  as  to  the  class  which  they  belonged 
or  the  condition  of  life  they  were  in.  So  far  as  our  common 
humanity  is  concerned  he  made  no  distinctions.  He  was  ever 
ready  to  help  and  encourage  the  unfortunate,  and  made  S{)ecial 
efforts  to  lift  up  those  who  had  fallen  by  the  way.  1  have 
heard  many  expressions  from  those  who  have  known  him  long 
and  well,  indicating  how  it  was  that  he  came  in  contact  with 
so  many  and  won  their  confidence  and  esteem.  The  influence 
he  exerted  was  silent,  but  effective  and  far-reaching. 

I  need  say  but  few  words  with  reference  to  the  deceased. 
You  are  all  more  familiar  with  his  life  work  than  I  am  myself. 
Many  of  you  have  known  him  intimately  and  for  a  long  time. 
You  know  more  about  him  than  1  do  myself.  I  see  before  me 
many  classes  represented  from  the  various  walks  and  ways  of 
life  ;  from  the  business  and  pi'ofessional  life,  from  the  shops, 
the  stores,  the  lodges,  the  offices  and  the  counting-rooms  you 
have  come  to  pay  your  respects  and  to  express  youi-  deep 
sense  of  appreciation  of  a  worthy  citizen  and  co-laborer,  who 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  61 

has  been  called  from  your  midst.  You  arc  here  mingling  3^our 
tears  with  these  broken  hearts.  His  was  a  life  of  simplicity 
that  has  made  a  deep  and  favorable  impression  upon  us  all. 
He  won  our  hearts  without  making  the  effort.  He  was  a  man 
of  few  words,  but  he  has  by  his  noble,  upright  life,  engraved 
himself,  his  strong  personality  in  the  very  chambers  of  our 
souls.  Those  tears  you  arc  shedding,  speak  louder  and  clearci- 
than  anything  I  can  express  as  to  his  worth.  I  can  readily 
appreciate  your  feelings  by  my  own. 

In  making  arrangements  for  this  service  I  felt  the  need  of 
help.  We  were  assured  that  there  were  those  in  the  ranks  of 
the  ministry  of  this  city  who  would  willingly  say  something 
with  reference  to  the  life  and  character  of  the  deceased.  It 
was  a  question  of  time.  It  was  desirable  on  the^  part  of  the 
family  that  the  services  be  made  as  brief  as  possible.  We  arc 
very  thankful  that  the  ministry  of  our  city  is  so  well  repre- 
sented. I  am  sure  I  can  bear  from  you  to  this  group  of  mourn- 
ers your  sympathies  and  good  wishes.  By  your  presence,  you 
clearly  indicate  that  the  departed  was  held  in  very  high  esteem 
by  this  whole  community.  I  can  truly  say  to  these  friends  in 
sori'ow,  that  they  do  indeed  have  the  sympathy  and  the  tears 
•  of  this  community  flowing  toward  them  in  this  hour  of  so  deep 
a  bereavement.  I  can  do  no  more  than  point  you  to  Him  who 
is  over  all  and  in  all.  I  can  simply  call  your  attention  to  the 
words  of  truth  spoken  for  our  comfort  and  consolation.  I 
must  also  call  your  attention  to  the  faith  of  our  brother.  It 
was  unclouded  and  free  from  doubts.  If  you  but  look  with  that 
faith  to-day  toward  the  sky  you  will  find  everything  bright  and 
inspiring.  So  that  while  wc  are  here  in  the  presence  of  his 
lifeless  form,  while  we  are  shedding  our  tears,  we  are  not  with- 
out God,  and  wc  are  not  without  hope.  We  have  God  with  us 
in  our  thoughts,  and  in  our  faiths.  We  have  the  future  life 
very  near  us  in  our  hopes.     Wc  feel   assured  that  it  is  well 


02  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

witli  our  l)rothcr,  and  that  he  is  not  very  far  away  from  us. 
We  are  in  sorrow  to-day,  so  far  as  the  home,  the  clnirch,  the 
city  and  the  whole  community  are  concerned.  For  when  you 
met  him  in  the  home  it  would  seem  that  he  had  never  heen 
anywhere  else,  so  true  was  he  in  filling  the  place,  in  every 
sense  of  the  word,  as  husband  and  father.  Then  when  you 
met  him  at  church,  it  would  seem  that  all  his  love  and  energy 
wore  centered  here.  And  so  it  was  no  matter  where  you  found 
him,  he  was  the  same  interested  and  unassuming  i)crson,  ab- 
sorbed in  what  was  before  him  at  tlie  time.  Next  to  his  home 
was  this  church.  Ifc  looked  upon  this  room  as  one  of  the 
I'ooms  belonging  to  his  own  house.  He  looked  upon  every 
room  in  this  building  as  a  part  of  the  house  where  he  dwelt. 
It  was  his  religious  home  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word.  He 
had  a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  of  this  church.  He  had  an 
abiding, living  interest  in  everything — in  the  affairs  of  the  city, 
the  community,  and  especially  for  the  poor  and  forsaken.  I 
can  but  suggest  to  these  bereaved  frinds  that  they  have  cause 
for  feelings  of  gratitude,  that  the  Heavenly  Father  left  him  to 
you  for  so  long  a  time.  It  is  cause  for  thankfulness  that  he 
was  permitted  to  keep  up  and  move  about,  and  take  such  a  lively 
interest  in  that  which  concerned  others,  even  up  to  the  very 
last.  It  is  truly  wonderful  how  vigorously  he  held  on  to  the 
leading  questions  of  the  day.  Among  the  last  things  he  si)oke 
of  was  the  church  of  his  love.  He  did  not  forget  that  part 
of  our  humanity  struggling  for  freedom.  He  even  referred  to 
Ireland  in  her  misfortunes,  and  cxin-cssed  the  hoj)e  that  she 
might  soon  be  permitted  to  govern  herself. 

Then,  when  it  came  to  the  last,  when  his  earthly  vision  had 
failed,  he  looked  Ijeyond,  and  with  the  eye  of  the  spirit  saw 
something,  or  somebody,  that  caused  a  smile  to  come  over  his 
face.  It  was  a  well-known  smile,  common  to  him  when  he 
met  and  greeted  a  friend.     In  this  way  he  left  behind  a  tcsti- 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  63 

mony  of  the  fact  that  he  is  now  living;  for  after  his  earthly 
sight  had  given  out,  there  was  a  vision  to  him  brighter  than 
he  ever  had  before.  We  are,  then,  to  think  of  him  as  living, 
and  not  dead.  He  lives  now  more  than  he  ever  lived  before, 
lie  lives  in  the  memory  of  these  loving  hearts,  children  and 
grandchildren.  He  lives  in  the  memory  of  this  church  and 
Sunday-school.  The  class  of  which  he  was  a  faithful  teacher 
cannot  forget  him.  And,  more  than  all,  he  lives  in  a  brighter 
world  than  this,  where  sorrows  are  no  more.  He  has  met 
those  who  had  passed  on  before.  He  has  greeted  wife  and 
children  with  a  kiss,  and  is  at  peace  with  his  God.  His 
memory  is  blessed  and  will  linger  in  the  places  that  knew  him 
for  many  years  to  come. 

Mr.  Crosley  closed  by  announcing  that  on  the  next  Sabbath 
he  would  speak  further  as  to  the  loss  the  church  had  sustained, 
mentioning  that  the  deceased  was  the  virtual  founder  of  it, 
and  that  he  had  been  connected  therewith  some  fifty  years. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Miner  of  Boston  was  then  introduced. 

VII.  Address,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  A.  A.  Miner. 

A  venerable  citizen  has  fallen  in  your  midst.  The  scores, 
if  not  hundreds,  of  venerable  men  in  this  presence  attest  the 
high  place  he  held  in  yonr  city,  and  the  strong  hold  he  had  upon 
your  respect.  He  was  favored  with  a  remarkable  presence, 
towering  above  his  fellows,  may  I  not  say,  not  simply  in  his 
jjhysical  altitude,  but  in  the  breadth,  and  generosity,  and  per- 
sistent fidelity  and  humanity,  that  moved  him  in  all  his  life 
work.  Where  have  you  had  a  public  enterprise  in  hand,  that 
Eliphalet  Trask  has  not  been  prominent  in  the  work  ?  Where 
have  you  had  occasion  to  draw  upon  the  resources  of  your 
best  citizens,  on  which  the  Hon.  Eliphalet  Trask  was  not 
among  the  more  liberal  contributors  ?     In  what  noble  work  of 


04  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

charity  or  reform  have  you,  venerable  men,  been  engaged,  in 
which  you  did  not  find  a  most  hearty  supporter,  if  not  a  wise  and 
generous  leader,  in  him  whose  venerable  form  lies  silent  in  the 
embrace  of  death  ?  Moved  by  no  superficial  consideration,  but 
by  those  ])riuciplos,  those  deep  and  profound  convictions,  that 
made  him  feel  that  his  life  was  a  part  of  every  other  man's  life, 
and  every  other  man's  life  a  part  of  his,  knit,  as  has  already 
been  intimated,  to  the  lowliest  and  the  poorest  in  your  midst, 
Eliphalet  Trask  was  one  child  in  the  great  family  of  God. 
And  he  found  it  out.  He  knew  it.  He  behaved  like  a  brother 
to  the  whole  family.  Of  course,  human  endeavors  are  limited, 
human  opj)ortunities  are  restricted,  the  possibilities  of  indi- 
vidual contact  arc  still  more  I'cstrictcd,  but  the  principles  of  a 
good  man  mold,  sweep  the  whole  field  of  humanity;  and 
out  of  those  princii)les  comes  what  a  generous  man.  an  nssidu 
ous  laborer,  and  a  persistent,  watchful  member  of  society  may 
accomplish.  His  methods  of  doing  good  were  not  petty,  not 
flimsy.  He  did  not  spend  his  energies  in  lifting  a  tritling  woe 
from  the  burdened  shoulder,  and  turn  round  and  give  his  in- 
fluence to  intensify  a  hundred  woes  that  he  did  not  touch. 
Contrariwise,  he  knew  what  would  strike  to  the  very  root  of  the 
world's  mischiefs.  A  few  days  ago  a  most  worthy  Christian 
Avoman  in  my  OAvn  city  called  upon  me,  and  solicited  my  name, 
and  whatever  little  inflence  it  might  give,  to  a  ])ct  scheme  of 
hers,  to  found  a  charity  a  dozen  or  fifteen  miles  fi-om  the  city, 
a  home  for  the  waifs  of  the  town.  She  would  gather,  in  the 
breadth  of  her  love  five  hundred  of  them,  and  there  do  what 
she  could  to  educate  them,  build  them  up  in  useful  domestic 
industries,  and  prepare  them  for  usefulness  in  life.  You  will 
sav,  what  I  say,  that  this  was  a  noble  conception.  It  would  do 
some  good.  But  it  would  leave  multitudes  of  like  waifs  un- 
cared  for  in  the  slums  of  our  great  city.  A  deeper  method 
of  work  is  possible.     Instead  of  taking  children   from   the 


TRASK  MEMOJilAL.  65 

homes  where  tlioy  oimht  to  be  warmed  into  o^enerons  life  by  the 
love  and  example  of  father  and  mother,  and  putting  them  into 
a  great  institution,  it  would  be  infinitely  better  to  adopt  those 
methods  which  should  lift  up  the  homes  into  which  they  Avere 
born,  and  make  them  such  homes  as  would  recover  them  from 
the  condition  of  waifs,  or,  better,  such  homes  as  would  pre- 
clude their  being  waifs.  I  need  not  say  that  the  venerable 
man  whose  life  work  is  closed  nnderstood  this  matter.  He 
believed  in  the  princi])les  of  Christianity  that  would  carry  all 
endeavors  down  to  the  root  of  things.  We  hear  much  in  our 
day  about  applied  Christianity.  It  is  a  fitting  enongh  |)hrase. 
It  is  not  new  in  its  meaning.  The  great  master  himself  ap- 
plied every  principle  he  taught  wherever  he  went,  find  every 
true  foHower  of  his  from  that  day  to  this  has  i-ci)catcd  his  ex- 
ample as  best  he  could.  But  in  the  hands  of  many,  or  on  the 
lips  and  tongues  of  many,  it  means  a  tlower  mission.  All 
right  and  well  in  itself.  It  means  an  outing  for  poor  children 
of  a  week  more  or  less.  Very  good  as  far  as  it  goes.  But 
from  such  outings  those  children  return  to  the  same  s(jual.d 
homes  in  which  they  had  spent  their  lives  thus  far.  How 
much  more  comprehensive,  how  much  deeper,  how  much  more 
sublime,  to  elevate  those  homes  by  the  removal  of  the  curses 
that  burden  them,  and  perpetuate  such  renewed  homes.  The 
Hon.  Eliphalet  Trask  long  ^go  did  not  hesitate  to  repudiate 
the  dominion  of  jiarties  of  whatsoever  name,  and  to  give  him- 
self to  a  work  that  has  down  to  the  j)resent  hour  been  despised 
among  men.  Nor  did  he  care,  save  as  his  love  of  humanity 
made  it  painful  to  him,  that  he  was  among  the  ostracized. 
He  saw  clearly  enough  that  so  long  as  the  masses  in  com- 
munity are  divided  into  great  parties  which  resist  and  abjure 
this  duty,  they  can  be  nothing  else  than  what  they  are,  with 
their  leaders  and  party  presses,  and  with  corrupt  forces  j)oison- 
ing  the  public  mind  and  perpetuating  these  evils.     You  know 


GO  TRASK   MEMORIAL. 

with  what  stability,  with  what  persistency,  he  turned  from  the 
l)ublic  view  of  things,  and  gave  himself  fundamentally  to  this 
work.  And  why  ?  By  no  ostentation,  by  no  mere  formalism, 
by  no  copying  of  the  tradition  of  his  fathers,  by  no  enslave- 
ment of,  or  thraldom  to,  superstition  did  he  do  this  work,  but 
out  of  the  deep,  calm,  even,  spontaneous  principles  of  Chris- 
tian conviction,  and  that  universal  humanity  which  Christianity 
enjoins.  And  0,  my  friends,  if  you  will  put  aside  for  a  moment 
all  the  prejudice  of  party  feeling,  all  customary  predilections, 
and  look  the  faults  of  our  so-called  Christian  communities 
directly  in  the  face,  and  ask  yourselves  what  it  is  that  multi- 
plies waifs,  what  it  is  that  manufactures  woe,  what  it  is  that 
burdens  us  with  taxation,  what  it  is  that  makes  the  cloud  over 
the  home  of  the  drunkard,  what  it  is  that  breaks  the  heart  of 
the  wife  of  the  drunkard,  and  makes  worse  than  orphans  his 
children,  tell  me  if  there  does  not  something  remain  in  the 
way  of  applied  Christianity,  that  we  have  not  heartily  entered 
into  yet  ?  Tell  me  if  our  Christianity — and  I  speak  generally — 
if  our  Christianity,  in  the  light  of  these  facts,  is  not  exceed- 
ingly thin  ?  Prayers  are  good.  Pious  ejaculations  are  good. 
But  God  has  a  hundred  times  the  respect  for  a  prayer  that  is 
embodied  in  downright  Christian  work,  than  he  has  for  peti- 
tions to  Ilim  to  do  for  us  what  we  ought  to  do  for  ourselves, 
and  can  do  if  we  will.  And  wjien  you  have  weighed  that 
thought,  you  have  got  very  near  the  convictions  and  living  ex- 
ample of  our  departed  friend. 

You  will  not  think  it  strange  that  with  such  convictions, 
our  departed  brother  held  a  high  place  among  his  Christian 
brethren  throughout  our  commonwealth,  throughout  our  whole 
church,  our  entire  general  church.  It  is  more  than  fifty  years 
since  I  was  accustomed  to  meet  him  at  our  state  and  national 
conventions.  Always  calm,  free  from  bitterness  or  hate,  can- 
did, patient,  true ;  true  as  the  very  needle  to  the  pole,  true  as 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  CI 

the  sun  itself  to  its  rising  and  setting,  he  never  failed  to  exert 
a  most  wholesome  influence,  wherever  he  went.  He  was  re- 
spected in  all  his  labors  in  your  city,  whether  in  business  or 
in  the  filling  of  office  in  the  city  or  the  commonwealth.  As 
a  representative  he  was  more  frequently  met  in  our  larger 
gatherings,  state  or  national,  than  almost  any  other  layman 
whom  I  recall.  He  was  a  wise  counsellor,  as  you  have  already 
been  truthfully  told.  He  was  a  man  whose  very  presence  was 
a  benediction,  a  man  who  in  the  few  words  uttered  from  time 
to  time  l)y  him,  would  exert  an  influence  that  was  wholesome, 
from  which  no  man  would  shrink,  which  was  still  and  true, 
and  which  has  done  not  a  little,  allow  me  to  say,  in  revolution- 
izing the  general  thought  of  many  a  man  in  our  church  ;  and 
as  such  a  representative  I  am  here,  and  glad  to  be  here,  to 
honor  him.  Such  is  my  own  number  of  years,  that  I  might 
well  call  him  "  Brother  Trask,"  but  it  is  much  more  congenial 
to  my  feelings  to  say  "  Father  Trask."  I  have  never  met 
him  but  with  satisfaction  and  joy,  and  do  not  remember 
that  there  has  ever  been  an  occasion  when  T  differed  from 
him  in  any  of  the  subjects  under  discussion,  and  that  is  a 
pretty  sti'ong  assurance  that  he  and  I  were  riglit.  1  do  not 
say  tliis  boastfully,  of  course,  rather  playfully,  perliaps;  but 
I  say  it  to  emphasize  my  conviction  that  the  Hon.  Eliphalet 
Trask  desired  nothing  under  heavens  more  unostentatiously 
or  more  truly  than  he  did  to  be  right  in  the  intiuence  he  ex- 
erted. I  am  not  surprised  at  the  testimony  which  some  of 
your  venerable  citizens  have  given  me  since  my  arrival  here, 
that  his  labors  in  your  midst,  in  the  varied  forms  of  business 
into  which  he  entered,  and  in  the  varied  public  offices  that  he 
assumed,  commended  him  to  your  confidence  and  good  judg- 
ment. I  am  not  surprised  to  learn  that  the  children  by  the 
wayside  were  always  glad  to  meet  him.  I  should  be  very 
much  surprised  if  those  children  and  grandchildren,  accus- 


08  TliASK  MEMORIAL. 

toraed  to  be  taken  in  his  arms,  do  not  feel  his  loss  as  truly  as 
you  who  are  older,  whether  in  the  family  or  in  the  commu- 
nity at  large. 

And,  my  friends,  as  touching  consolation,  what  can  I  not 
say.  Tears  have  been  referred  to,  but  I  scarcely  feel  that 
tears  are  beiitting  this  occasion.  A  man  who  has  reached  so 
venerable  an  age  belongs  in  that  higher  realm.  God's  ways  are 
wise,  often  mysterious.  Happy  the  heart  that  can  feel  they 
are  wise,  and  bow  in  submission.  The  Psalmist,  a  thousand 
years  before  Christ  came,  did  not  hesitate  to  say,  borrowing 
his  figure  from  his  own  occupation  as  a  shepherd,  "The  Lord 
is  my  shepherd."  Grant  the  premise,  aud  what  is  the  conclu- 
sion? "I  shall  not  want."  Following  the  figure,  he  says, 
"fie  leadeth  me  in  green  pastures."  Not  an  occasional  oj)- 
])ortunity  to  obtain  the  blessings  of  life.  "  lie  makcth  me  to 
lie  down  in  green  pastures;  He  leadeth  me  beside  the  still 
waters,"  still  because  deep  and  abundant.  And  remembering 
the  duty  of  the  shepherd  to  restore  the  Avandering  lambs,  he 
adds,  "He  restoreth  my  soul;  He  leadeth  me  in  the  paths  of 
righteousness  for  His  name's  sake."  And  remembering,  again, 
the  duty  of  the  shepherd  to  protect  the  Hock  against  the  rav- 
ages of  beasts  of  prey,  a  duty  which  the  Psalmist  had  at  least 
twice  discharged  at  the  imminent  hazard  of  his  own  life,  he 
says,  "Yea,  though  1  walk  through  the  valley  and  the  shadow 
of  death," — observe,  it  is  not  death,  it  is  only  the  shadow  of 
death,  and  the  shadow  falls  in  the  valley  where  for  the  Hock 
all  the  fat  things  are, — "I  will  fear  no  evil."  It  is  no  evil. 
Why  ?  "  For  Thou  art  with  me ;  Thy  rod  and  Thy  staff  they 
comfort  ine."  If,  a  thousand  years  before  Christ  came,  the 
Psalmist  could  speak  with  this  confidence  and  joy,  what  ought 
not  to  be  our  condition  of  mind,  when  twenty  centuries  of 
Christrian  light  have  shone  upon  our  pathway.  Can  we  won- 
der that  the  ajjostle  John  should  say,  "  We  love  Him  because 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  09 

He  first  loved  us?"  Can  we  wonder  that  the  Master  hhnself 
should  sa>',  "  On  these  two  commandments,"  love  to  (ilod  and 
man, "  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets  ?  "  Can  we  wonder 
that  the  apostle  Paul  should  add,  "Love  is  the  fulfilling,"  the 
filling  full,  "  of  the  law."  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and 
so  fill  full  the  "  law  of  Christ,"  and  so  live  together  as  one 
family.  0,  with  what  shamefacedness  should  we  remember 
that  we  arc  so  slow,  and  cold,  and  superficial,  that,  forgetting 
these  trutlis,  we  are  too  apt  to  lay  our  emphasis  upon  some- 
thing that  waits  to  be  seen.  "  Yes,"  says  some  hearer,  "  but 
all  this  is  shadowy."  About  this  corruptible  putting  on  in- 
corruption,  how  is  it  possible  ?  "  I  cannot  conceive  it,"  says 
an  intelligent  man,  a  little  secularized,  whose  thought  has 
been  drawn  away  from  high  things,  and  centered  upon 
visible  things;  "how  is  it  possible  for  the  human  soul  to  live 
beyond  the  grave?"  The  question  of  method,  how  is  it 
done  ?  We  fold  our  arms,  friend,  and  confess  to  you,  frankly 
and  openly,  we  do  not  know.  What  then?  Superstition? 
Not  a  whit.  What  then  ?  This  :  while  we  have  come  to 
know  much  about  many  things,  there  is  absolutely  nothing 
that  we  know  all  about.  I  appeal  to  you,  men  of  science,  pro- 
fessional men.  I  repeat  it.  Scientists  have  grown  egotistic 
and  dogmatic,  and  they  charge  dogmatism  on  the  pulpit.  They 
have,  indeed,  come  to  know  and  make  revelations  about  many 
things  to  a  great  extent,  but,  absolutely,  nothing  is  known  to 
its  very  roots.  Every  fact,  every  experience,  whether  within 
or  without  us,  strikes  its  roots  into  unfathomable  depths. 
These  beautiful  testimonials  of  affection,  so  profusely  pre- 
sented, may  serve  as  an  illustration.  You  cast  a  tiny  seed  of 
the  lily  into  the  black, offensive  earth,  and  when  it  springs  up, 
it  unfolds  the  most  delicate  whiteness,  and  exhales  the  most 
delicious  fragrance.  But,  you  ask  how  it  is  possible  for  that 
minute  seed  to  unfold  from  the  blackness  of  the  earth  such 


70  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

whiteness,  and  to  exhale  from  the  offensiveness  of  the  earth 
such  delicious  fragrance  ;  and  the  wisest  })liilosoi)her  can  no 
more  answer  you,  than  the  unborn  babe.  We  think  we  are  very 
wise  about  these  things,  but  we  know  very  little,  and  what  we 
know  is  very  su})erficial.  The  mineralogist  will  tell  you  from 
the  form  of  the  crystal  what  is  the  nature  of  the  mineral,  for 
it  has  always  a  given  geometric  form.  Now,  how  is  it  possible 
to  make  an  invisible  i)ower,  operating  by  a  common  law,  to 
work  one  form  in  one  case,  and  another  form  in  another  case? 
The  method  entirely  eludes  us.  It  is  absolutely  beyond  us. 
What,  then,  if  we  do  not  know  the  way  into  the  realm  eternal  V 
It  only  places  these  high  things  of  God  in  the  same  categoi-y 
with  the  ordinary  things  of  life.  We  cannot  deny  these  mys- 
teries that  lie  all  about  us,  whose  depths  no  human  science  can 
explain,  or  has  been  able  by  its  fathoming-line  to  measure. 
Who,  then,  can  wonder  that  we  have  never  been  able  to  lift 
the  veil,  to  look  into  the  face  of  the  Almighty,  and  read  the 
mystery  of  immortality  ?  Let  a  master  mechanic  of  your 
city  lead  his  little  child  through  a  wondrous  machine  shop, 
and  that  child  will  see  one  wheel  moving  one  way,  and  another 
wheel  another;  and  he  says,  "Father,  how  is  this?  I  can- 
not understand  it.  One  thing  undoes  what  another  accom- 
plishes.'" The  father  is  obliged  to  say,  "  Not  until  you  have 
leai-ncd  about  the  laws  of  mathematics,  and  been  trained  in 
tbc  laws  of  mechanics,  can  you  fathom  it."  There  is  a  good 
deal  in  the  realm  of  matter  and  of  spirit  that  remains  for  in- 
vestigation, You  can  teach  a  young  child  as  wisely  as  young- 
child  was  ever  taught,  pouring  into  its  ears  all  the  wisdom  of 
the  greatest  philoso)jhei'S,  and  Christian  philosophers  at  tliat, 
and  yet  it  is  not  until  he  has  been  reared  in  the  alphabet  of 
right  living  and  Christian  pi'inciples  ;  it  is  not  until  lu;  has 
gone  into  the  world  and  tested  those  princii)Ies ;  it  is  not 
until  he  has  moved  anion"-  his  fellow  men,  with  men  in  abrasion 


TRA SK  MEMORIA  L .  71 

one  with  another ;  it  is  not  until  the  principles  of  righteousness 
are  ingrained  into  his  very  soul,  that  he  can  know  what  the 
peace  of  the  venerable  Christian  means.  We  are  children  in 
the  hands  of  God.  He  is  dealing  with  us  as  seemeth  to  him 
good.  One  man  thinks  one  thing  and  another  another.  It  is 
the  glory  of  our  institutions  at  present  to  leave  every  man  to 
think  his  own  thought,  and  move  the  general  thought,  as  far 
as  he  is  able,  with  a  view  of  the  general  advancement. 

I  beg,  my  friends,  in  closing,  to  present  my  sympathies  with 
you  in  your  bereavement,  by  the  stroke  that  has  fallen  upon 
the  tall  oak  in  the  midst  of  this  family  forest  that  has  fallen ; 
and  to  commend  to  you,  so  far  as  you  shall  find  it  in  your 
calmer  judgment  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  teachings  and 
precepts  of  our  Lord  and  Master,  to  emulate  these  virtues,  and 
enlarge  upon  this  gracious  influence,  with  the  power  that  this 
life  has  shed  upon  and  infused  into  the  community,  and  thus 
carry  forward  to  a  noble  completion  the  gracious  work  of 
which  so  much  has  been  done. 

VIII.   Closing  words,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Crosley. 

I  just  wish  to  repeat  a  farewell  word  to  our  brother  in  be- 
half of  this  congregation  and  these  friends.  And  I  now 
say,  farewell,  in  behalf  of  this  church  and  this  place,  where 
he  was  a  member,  and  where  he  delighted  to  be,  and  where 
he  has  so  often  come.  A  week  ago  last  Sabbath  he  sat  in  that 
pew  that  is  now  draped,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  was  speak- 
ing to  him  for  the  last  time.  It  came  to  me  in  spite  of  myself, 
and  frequently,  as  I  looked  into  his  face.  It  seemed  to  me 
that  he  was  looking  through  windows  into  the  life  that  is  to 
come.  For  whenever  I  referred  to  that  life,  his  eye  seemed 
to  brighten,  and  indicate  that  that  was  the  life  he  was  about 
to  enter  upon,  so  I  will  repeat  these  lines  : 


TliASK  MEMORIAL. 

"  Yet  must  we  part  and,  partiiifr,  weep; 

What  else  luitli  earth  for  us  in  store  ? 
These  farewell  paujfs,  how  sharp  and  deep! 

These  farewell  words,  how  sad  and  sore! 

"  Yet  we  shall  meet  a<^ain  in  peace, 

To  sing  the  song  of  festal  joy; 
Where  none  shall  bid  our  gladness  cease, 
And  none  our  fellowshij)  destroy. 

"  There  hand  to  hand,  firm  linked  at  last, 
And  heart  to  heart  enfolded  all; 

W^e'll  smile  upon  the  troubled  past, 
And  wonder  why  we  wept  at  all." 


"  There  are  brighter  skies  than  these  1  know, 

Lands  were  no  shadows  lie, 
Fields  where  immortal  liowers  bloom, 

And  founts  that  are  never  dry. 
There  are  domes  where  the  stars  aie  never  dim, 

Where  the  moon  forever  gleams, 
And  the  music-bieath  of  the  radiant  hills 

Sweep  o'er  the  crystal  streams." 

There  in  that  l)ri^'lit,  hind  we  leave  the  spirit  of  our  brother, 
and  bear  his  lifeless  form  to  its  kindred  dust. 


IX.  Singing. 


(Hianl — "  Gatii  kktnc;    Mom ic." 

Tl  ey're  gathering  homeward  from  every  land, 

One  by  one,  one  by  one. 
And  their  weary  feet  touch  the  shining  strand. 

Yes,  one  by  one. 
'liieir  brows  are  inclosM  in  a  golden  crown, 
'1  heir  travel-stain'd  garments  are  all  lai«l  down, 
And  cloth'd  in  white  raiment  they  rest  in  the  nuiad 
Where  the  Lamb  of  God  his  saints  doth  lead. 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  73 

Gatheriiij;  home,  {jfiitlieiing  home. 
Foidinji  the  river  one  by  one. 
Gatheiini;'  home,  gathering  home, 
Yes,  one  by  one. 

Before  they  rest  they  pass  thro'  the  strife, 

One  by  one,  one  by  one. 
Thro'  the  waters  of  death  they  enter  Vife, 

Yes,  one  by  one. 
To  some  are  the  Hoods  of  the  river  still 
As  they  ford  on  their  way  to  the  heavenly  hill; 
To  others  the  waves  run  fiercely  and  wild, 
Yet  they  reach  the  home  of  the  undeliled. 

Gathering  home,  etc. 

We,  too,  shall  come  to  the  river  side. 

One  by  one,  one  by  one. 
We  are  nearer  its  waters  each  eventide, 

Yes,  one  by  one. 
We  can  hear  the  noise  and  dash  of  the  stream, 
Now  and  again,  tho'  our  life's  deep  dream. 
Sometimes  the  Hoods  all  the  banks  overilow 
And  sometimes  in  ripples  and  small  waves  go. 

Gathering  home,  etc. 

Jesus,  Kedeemer,  we  look  to  thee, 

One  by  one,  one  by  one. 
We  lift  up  our  voices,  tremblingly, 

Yes,  one  by  one. 
The  waves  of  the  river  are  dark  and  cold. 
We  know  not  the  place,  where  our  feet  may  hold. 
May  Thou  who  didst  pass  through,  in  deep  midnight, 
Stand  by  us,  and  guide  us,  our  staff  and  light. 

Gathering  home,  etc. 


ODD  FELLOWS'  SERVICE. 

The  burial  service  of  the  1.  0.  0.  F.  was  conducted  hy  ofti- 
cers  of  the  Hamj)deu  Lod«>e,  No.  27,  Harrison  Johnson, 
Chaphiin  ;  Daniel  A.  Hopkins,  Noble  Grand. 


RESOLUTIONS. 


RESOLUTIONS. 


First  Universalist  Society, 

]Vhcrca.s%  Since  we  last  met,  Eliphalet  Trask  and  Kuby  Sqnior 
TiMsk,  his  beloved  wife,  both  organizers  of  this  Society.  boUi 
founders  of  its  Church  and  Sunday  School,  have  been  called  to 
tlicir  home  on  high.  In  one  we  have  lost  our  presiding  officer  for 
all  our  years,  our  most  faithful  and  efficient  worker,  our  most 
consistent  and  devoted  friend,  counselor  and  brother  ;  in  the 
other,  a  tender  and  devoted  sister,  always  with  us  in  all  good 
works  and  deeds.  In  both,  our  chiefest  man  and  woman  ; 
therefore. 

Resolved,  That  we  place  upon  our  records  how  deej)ly  and 
keenly  we  feel  our  loss  ;  but  that  deprived  of  their  wise  counsel 
and  tender  companionship,  we  still  have  ever  in  our  possession 
their  clear  faith,  their  ardent  hope  and  their  In'ight  example. 

Resolved,  That  we  convey  to  the  afflicted  family  and  immedi- 
ate friends,  in  their  doulile  bereavement,  our  sincere  sympathy, 
and  pray  that  they  may  be  comforted  l)y  the  faith  so  well  kept 
and  so  well  lived,  by  our  departed  friends. 

M.  Crosley, 

H.  S.  Hyde, 

Wm.  W.  Gardner. 

Committee. 
Springfield,  Mass.,  Feb.  19,  1891.  , 


78  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

First  Universaltst  CiirurH. 

Whercits,  In  the  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence,  Filijihiilct 
Trask.  our  assoeiate  in  St.  Paul's  Cluireli  since  its  organization, 
has  been  called  upward  to  a  better  life  :    therefore, 

]\e><olved,  'JMiat  we  will  give  some  tangible  expression  of  our 
love  and  esteem  for  Ids  character  and  our  tliankfulness  for  the 
blessings  liis  life  has  given  us. 

llesolveil,  That  his  manifestations  of  faitlifulness,  so  great,  so 
excei)tional  in  every  phase  of  his  pul)lic  or  private  life,  comnuinds 
our  admiration,  and  makes  1dm  a  leader  for  us  to  follow  in  that 
particular  virtue  which  distinguished  him  from  the  multitude 
of  men. 

Resolved,  That  while  we  here  express  our  sorrow  at  tlie  loss 
of  our  associate,  we  will  honor  his  memory  by  striving  to  imi- 
tate those  qualities  of  his  nature  which  in  himself  he  taught  us 
to  ai)provc. 

Reftfdved,  That  we  extend  to  his  family  our  sympathy  and 
condolence,  with  the  comforting  assurance  that  his  spirit  will 
console  us  so  long  as  we  heed  its  admoidlions  to  ever  be  true  to 
what  our  judgmeid.  believes  to  be  right. 

/lesoJred,  That  we  will  [dace  upon  our  records  this  ]ireand)le 
and  resolutions,  and  also  ti-ansndt  a  (•oi)v  to  his  fandlv. 

W.  W.   r;Ai!i)Ni:i;, 
It.  F.  Leach, 
H.   V.  Lewis. 

Committee. 

At  a  meeting  of  8t.  Paul's  Church,  held  Thui-sday  evening, 
December  25,  IS'.io,  it  was  voted  to  accept  and  adopt  the  al)ove 
resolutions. 

Attest :  Henry  V.  Lewis,  Clerk. 


TRASK  MEMOIilAL.  79 

Agawam  Papek  Comi'axy. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Stockholders  of  the  Agawam  Paper  Com- 
pany, hehl  at  their  mill  on  Tuesday,  January  20,  ISHI,  the  f(>l- 
lowing  resolutions  were  passed  : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  removal  by  death  of  the  Hon.  Eliplialet 
Trask,  the  President  of  this  Compan}^  since  its  organization  in 
1859,  we  recognize  the  loss  of  one  who  has  always  taken  an  intel- 
ligent interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  Company,  and  has  contributed 
by  his  counsel  and  advice  to  its  business  and  prosperity,  and  the 
community  has  lost  a  valued  and  honorable  citizen. 

]\esolve<l,  That  we  tender  to  the  children  and  friends  of  our 
late  President  our  heartfelt  sympathy  in  their  deep  afHiction. 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  recorded  in  the  records  of 
the  Company  by  the  Secretary,  and  a  copy  be  transmitted  to  his 
family. 

Attest :  Wm.  K.  Baker,  Secretary. 


Hampden   Sayixgs   Bank. 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Hampden  Savings 
Bank,  held  December  11,  1890,  the  following  resolutions  were 
adopted : 

Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  Hampden  Savings  Bank 
in  fulfilling  the  sad  duty  of  recording  the  death  of  our  honored 
President,  Eliphalet  Trask,  cannot  refrain  from  adding  to  their 
expression  of  great  regret  at  the  loss  of  his  valuable  services  to 
this  Bank,  the  expression  also  of  their  own  personal  feelings  of 
grief  and  bereavement.  Eliphalet  Trask  as  he  grew  to  an  hon- 
ored and  ripened  old  age,  kept  fully  abreast  with  the  times.  His 
personal  virtues,  his  intellectual  vigor,  his  kind  heart,  his  prac- 
tical interest  and  help,  and  his  rare  business  judgment,  all  kept 
bright  and  active  to  the  end,  and  render  his  death  not  alone  our 
loss,  but  a  loss  to  the  coBrmunity  in  which  he  lived  so  long,  and 
which  he  loved  so  much. 


80  TliASK  MEMOIifAL. 

licsolvcd,  Thut  our  prot'oimd  syiii|i,il  hies  nrc  liereby  tcudci-cd 
to  the  I'iunily  of  our  deceased  friend  in  their  dec])  allliction. 

Jicsnlved,  That  these  resohitions  he  entered  on  the  recoi'ds  of 
tlie  liank,  and  a  copy  he  sent  to  his  family. 


First  National  Bank. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Springiield,  held  Tuesday,  January  13,  1801,  the 
following  resolutions  were  offered  by  James  Kirkham,  and  were 
unanimously  adopted: 

Resolved,  I'hat  in  the  removal  by  death  of  the  Hon.  Eliplndet 
Trask,  a  member  of  this  Board  the  past  twenty  years,  we  recog- 
nize the  loss  to  this  Board  of  one  of  its  most  etlicient  Directors, 
and  to  this  community  of  a  valuable  and  honored  citizen. 

Ikesolved,  That  we  tender  to  the  children  and  grandchildren 
of  the  deceased  tlie  sincere  sym})atiiy  of  the  niemljcrs  of  this 
Board. 

Hesolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  I'csolutions  ))e  placed  U])on  t  he 
records  of  the  Board,  and  also  be  transmitted  to  the  family  of 
the  deceased  as  a  token  of  our  real  sympathy  and  n>spect. 

D.  A.  FoLSOM,  Clerk. 


Mutual  Fike  Assuiianck  Company. 

[Extract  from  tin;  Ueciords.] 

Mr.  V.  N.  'I'aylor  then  pi'csented  the  following  resolution,  and 
moved  that  it  be  accepted  and  ado})ted  by  a  risiug  vote,  and  it 
was  so  voted : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  lion.  Eliphalet  Trask,  for 
eighteen  years  a  Director  in  this  Company,  who  died  of  pneu- 
monia, on  Tuesday,  the  ninth  of  December,  instant,  after  a  short 
illness  of  four  (lays,  at  the  age  of  eig]^lty-four  years  and  eleven 
months,  and  who  was  so  long  and  pleasantly  associated  with  the 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  81 

members  of  this  Board,  demauds  of  us  ii  willing  expression,  not 
only  of  our  deep  sympathy  with  his  family,  but  also  of  our 
appreciation  of  his  services  to  the  Company,  and  to  this  commu- 
nity, as  well  as  to  our  high  respect  to  his  memory.  Of  strong 
and  commanding  will  ;  of  incorruptible  integrity  ;  considerate 
and  charitable  in  his  judgment  of  men  ;  fearless  in  doing  his 
duty  as  it  was  given  him  to  see  it ;  thoughtful  and  kindly  in  all 
his  relations  to  the  members  of  this  Board  ;  interested  heartily 
in  the  things  of  the  present,  and  interesting  in  his  reminiscences 
of  the  things  of  the  past,  we  feel  that  in  his  death  has  gone  a 
good  man,  a  good  friend,  a  good  citizen. 

Resolved,    That  a  copy  of  this  resolution  be  sent  to  his  family 
and  spread  upon  the  repords  of  the  Company. 

A  true  copy.     Attest:  Fra^k  R.  YouNrx, 

Secretary. 


TRIBUTES  OF  THE  PRESS. 


TRIBUTES  OF  THE  PRESS. 


The  obituary  notices  printed  by  the  Springlield  nevvspa])ers 
immediately  following  the  death  of  Eliphalet  Trask  are  here  in- 
serted as  they  appeared.  For  want  of  time  in  which  to  prepare 
tlicm,  it  is  but  reasonable  to  expect  that  they  should  contain  a 
few  unimportant  errors.  Those  have  been  corrected  in  the 
biograi^hical  sketch  given  in  preceding  pages.  They  are,  in  the 
extracts,  so  closely  interwoven  with  statements  of  opinion  that 
it  is  difficult  to  make  changes  in  them  Avithont  materially  alter- 
ing the  spirit  of  each.  They  very  truthfully  reflect  the  estimate 
placed  upon  Mr.  Trask  by  his  neighbors  and  friends. 

Right   thinking,    right   believing,   industr}',  temperance   and 

frugality  were  the  inspirations  of  his  own  life — principles  which 

he    held   as   of   the   highest    importance.     It   gave    him    great 

satisfaction  when  others  seemed  to  be  gnided  by  the  same  high 

impulse,  and  he  rejoiced  to  see  them  following  in  the  same  j^ath 

which  he  had  chosen  for  himself.     It  was  my  privilege  to  have 

known  him  during  his  most  active  political  life,  when  devotion 

to  the  right  cost  something.     He  carried  through  victory  and 

defeat  the  same  hopeful  nature — never  unduly  elated  by  success, 

nor  cast  down  by  defent.    I  have  presented  in  the  preceding  p;iges 

the  man  as  I  knew  him.     The  minor  incidents,  as  well  as  those 

of  higher  importance  are  given  that  a  just  estimate  may  be 

placed  upon  him  by  those  who  are  yet  to  follow,  and  who  are  to 

be  inspired  by  his  most  worthy  example. 

Henky  M.  13 let. 


80  TRA SK  MEMO li lAL. 

From  the  Chrididu   Leader,   December  18,   18".»U. 

A  sharp  pang  of  persoual  grief  came  to  uie  with  the  news  that 
this  honored  citizen  and  noble  Christian  Avas  dead,  liis  eighty- 
five  years  might  have  suggested  that  he  w;is  in  tlie  })eriod  of 
precarious  old  age  ;  but  when  I  have  met  liim  he  has  been  so 
buoyant  of  heart  and  so  halC;,  and  I  have  heard  so  uniformly  that 
he  was  completing  his  eighty-fifth  year  witii  vigor  and  eoulidence, 
that  I  have  naturally  exj)ected  to  meet  him  again  under  these 
earthly  skii-s.  f  now  recall  that  he  has  never  seemed  to  me  lila' 
an  old  man,  or  like  one  ai)proaching  age.  lie  has  had  such  fel- 
lowship with  young  people  ;  he  has  kept  suc^h  a  discerning  eye 
on  the  present  aspect  of  affairs  ;  he  has  been  so  ardent  in  his 
hope  of  human  progress,  so  devoted  to  good  causes  that  have  en- 
gaged his  heart — that  he  has  always  seemed  to  me,  in  perce])tible 
degree  at  least,  as  I  now  recall,  like  a  young  man  with  life  all 
before  him.  Occasionally,  it  is  true,  he  would  delight  in  telling 
of  the  old  times  ;  he  did  not  forget  his  early  sti'uggles  or  limita- 
tions ;  it  was  a  peculiar  pleasure  to  him  to  speak  to  a  sympathetic 
listener  of  the  slights  and  social  ostracism  he  endured  in  etirly 
mauliood  for  the  ssike  of  his  dearly-cherished  Univcrsalist  faith. 
But  his  yesterdays  were  all  cheerful.  He  made  no  suggestion, 
in  tone  or  word,  that  to  him  the  foinier  days  were  better  than 
these.  So  I  had  come  to  feel  toward  him  as  I  would  towanl  one 
who  could  not  grow  old — a  jtercnnial  in  earth's  garden,  a  stand- 
ard for  the  generations.  During  the  twenty  years  that  I  have 
known  him,  I  have  scarcely  noted  the  customary  signs  of  age  in- 
creasing upon  him.  Those  wdio  have  been  constantly  in  his 
presence  may  have  observed  them,  but  there  was  such  light 
of  youthfulness  in  him  whenever  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  see 
him,  that  the  usual  signs  of  foui'score  years  were  most  conspicu- 
ous by  Lheir  absence. 

l)ut  now  the  word  comes  that,  from  the  tinui  when  his  estima- 
ble wife,  who  had  been  the  light  of  his  eartldy  dwelling  sixty-one 
years,  was  called  to  her  long  home — 'twas^  as  I  count  the  time, 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  87 

only  fifteen  days  before  his  going — he  rapidly  sank.  The  light 
of  his  earthly  life  then  went  out.  An  attack  of  pneumonia 
came.  He  quietly  submitted.  His  old  wish  to  live  among  his 
Avcll-loved  fellow-men  failed  in  him  ;  he  went  yonder  in  peace. 

My  sense  of  personal  loss  is  fresh  upon  me  as  I  write  such 
words  of  the  good  find  true  man  as  my  heart  prompts.  He  was 
oiice  my  parishioner  ;  and  since  the  day  of  our  first  acquaintance 
he  has  favoi'ed  me  with  a  kindly  friendsliip.  His  home — his 
patriarchal  home,  as  it  might  well  be  called — has  been  tempora- 
rily mine  repeatedly  during  the  two  decades  past.  To  spend  an 
evening  and  a  night  with  "'Gov.  Trask"  in  Springfield,  was  a 
pleiisant  break  in  many  a  Journey  east  or  west.  These  things 
I  say  only  as  suggesting  my  right  to  speak  of  my  old  friend. 

The  external  facts  of  his  life  have,  I  doubt  not,  before  this 
been  stated  for  public  reading.  For  fifty-four  years  he  was  in 
the  iron-foundry  business  in  Springfield,  and  had  growing  and 
amjole  prosperity.  Did  ever  one  in  all  that  period  question  his 
integrity  or  his  leaning  to  the  generous  side  in  business  ?  As 
well  question  whether  the  sun  dispenses  light.  His  integrity, 
his  honor,  was  ingrained  and  transparent.  He  was  Mayor  of  his 
city  ;  he  was  a  Eepresentative  in  the  State  Legislature  ;  he  was 
for  three  years  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  old  Bay  State  ;  he 
was  in  the  marrow  of  his  bones,  a  patriot.  In  the  war-time  he 
gave  himself  unreservedly  to  the  raising  of  regiments  for  the 
front,  and  was  so  true  a  friend  of  the  soldier  that  he  achieved 
the  distinction  of  being  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  liepublic  Avithout  having  himself  been  an 
active  sharer  in  the  hardships  of  the  field.  His  patriotic  sagacity 
had  its  best  opportunity  at  home.  His  most  conspicuous  trait, 
however,  has  been  his  steadfast  and  earnest  devotion  to  the  cause 
of  temperance.  His  love  for  men  made  him  hate  alcohol  with 
might  and  main.  In  the  temperance-  cause  he  was  ready  to  fulfill 
any  duty,  stand  at  any  post,  lead  any  forlorn  hope,  endure  any 
human  enmity.  Nothing  could  discourage  him  in  the  good  cause. 
Ill  the  last  conversation  I  was  privileged  to  hold  with  him,  I  re- 


88  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

Ciill  liow  coiiliileiilly  he  predicted  the  time,  yet  himself  scarcely 
expecting  to  live  to  see  it,  when  the  American  people  would 
arise  in  moral  indignation  and  drive  the  saloon  out  of  the  land. 
lie  believed  in  law  as  an  agent,  but  far  more  believed  in  the 
moral  majesty  and  irresistible  power  of  the  riglit. 

It  is  a  peculiar  delight  to  remember  Eliphalet  Trask  in  liis 
liome.  \yhat  a  home-loving  man  he  was  I  Many  of  our  clergy- 
men have  ex[)erienced  the  lu^spitality  of  the  old  mansion  on 
Water  street,  aud  every  one,  I  am  sure,  has  been  made  to  feel 
tiuit  the  old  place  was  thereafter,  in  some  sense,  his  own  home. 
Mr.  Trask,  and  his  wife  as  well — how  perfectly  the  two  were  one 
in  goodness  and  true  greatness  I — clung  tenaciously  to  that  old 
mansion.  When  his  earthly  fortunes  warranted,  he  built  an  ex- 
pensive modern  house  for  liis  home.  It  was  completed  ;  the 
question  arose  whether,  after  all,  he  could  leave  the  old  place 
which  had  become  sanctified  by  such  memories  of  children  and 
sorrow  and  happiness  ;  and  the  dear  old  couple,  who  had  fulfilled 
the  very  ideal  of  marriage,  houoi-ed  their  j^ast  and  exalted  their 
true  home  love,  by  choosing  to  remain  in  their  old  home  to  the 
end  of  their  days.  Truly,  it  was  a  home-like  })lace  !  If  wanting 
in  modern  embellishments,  it  was  beautified — on  some  family 
anniversai'ies  almost  glorified — as  a  memorial  of  hapi)y  years. 
One  of  the  pleasantest  things  I  remember  of  Gov.  Trask,  is  a  ride 
with  li'm  through  the  city  of  Springfield  one  autumn  day,  when, 
after  lie  had  with  a  citizen's  pride  exhibited  the  architectural 
imi)rovements,  he  drove  to  the  lower  end  of  the  city  to  show  me 
the  house  in  which  he  lived  when  he  first  came  as  a  poor  ymng 
man  to  tSpringfield.  liis  moist  eyes  as  he  spoke  of  the  childi'cn 
born  in  the  angular  little  house,  the  affectionate  interest  with 
which  he  noted  every  change  made  in  the  place,  revealed  what 
an  inward  fountain  he  had  in  his  home  memories  and  do- 
mestic affections. 

Aiul  what  citizen  of  8i3ringfiel<l,  what  brother  of  our  church 
in  Massachusetts,  docs  not  know  how  truly,  how  i)rofoun(lly, 
how  zealously  and  generous  he  was  a  Universalist  ?    ilo  could  as 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  89 

soon  li:ive  lived  witliout  his  home  as  without  his  church.  At  one 
time  he  entirely  owned  the  Universalist  Meeting-house,  and  gave 
freely  its  use  to  the  struggling  Universalist  parish,  and  in  addi- 
tion paid  freely  towards  the  pastor's  salary.  And  lie  was  so 
simple,  so  cheerful,  so  fraternal  in  his  great  giving  I  "Never 
fear  the  one-man  power  in  a  church,"  said  a  former  pastor  to  me 
while  I  was  in  Springfield,  '^'^if  the  one  man  be  Eliphalet  Trask." 
Never  was  a  man  more  free  from  self-assertion  in  the  objection- 
able sense.  Never  was  there  a  truer  or  more  generous  friend  of 
any  pastor  who  even  moderately  tried  to  do  his  best.  Yet  what 
a  determined  and  heroic  believer  this  rugged  man  could  be. 
When  it  was  seen  that  he  was  prospered  in  the  things  of  this 
world  some  members  of  the  First  Church,  in  the  days  when  the 
denominational  lines  were  rigid,  waited  on  him  with  an  invita- 
tion to  come  into  their  church.  '•'  But  I  am  a  Universalist,"  he 
said.  "  Yes,  but  you  want  to  stand  well  in  the  community  ;  you 
know  the  Universalists  have  no  standing;  you  can,  if  you  have 
such  religious  hopes,  be  free  to  enjoy  them  quietly  by  yourself 
Avhile  among  us."  "  I  am  as  much  obliged  to  you  as  I  can  be," 
Sciid  Mr.  Trask,  "  but  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  say  that  my  imnciples 
are  not  for  sale."  More  than  once  I  have  asked  him  in  reference 
to  an  anecdote  which  was  current  in  reputed  orthodox  minister 
circles,  and  of  which  he  was  said  to  be  the  subject,  if  not  the 
hero.  Rev.  Dr.  Osgood  of  the  First  Church  was  passing  the 
Universalist  Church,  the  first  one,  while  in  process  of  building. 
"What  building  is  this?"  he  asked  of  Mr.  Trask.  *'It  is  a 
church,  where  the  truth  will  be  preached."  "If  it  is,"  said  the 
old  wit,  "some  of  your  ears  will  tingle,  I  guess."  "Yes,"  said 
Mr.  Trask,  "something  like  that  occurred;  but  Dr.  Osgood 
lived  long  enough  to  preach  in  that  Unive'-salist  Church  one 
Sunda}^  and  to  testify  that  its  influence  had  been  good  in  the 
community.  These  anecdotes  will  suggest  to  those  who  did  not 
know  Mr.  Trask,  the  spirit  that  was  in  him.  From  the  deeps  of 
his  soul,  in  eveiy  fibre  of  his  great  nature,  he  was  a  Universalist 
Christian.     A  member  of  the  church,  humble  and  reverent,  a 


00  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

tcaelier  in  the  Sunday-scliool  I  believe  to  the  very  List^  u  Cliris- 
tian  so  good  tuid  true  that  lie  was  in  his  later  years — to  his  mani- 
fest joy- -recognized  as  such  by  Christians  of  all  denominations 
in  the  city.  What  an  example  in  devotion  and  in  the  uplifting 
power  of  the  great  hope  was  he  to  all  his  brethren. 

I  have  not  atteniiited  to  analyze  the  character  of  this  honored 
father  in  Israel.  I  write  under  impulse,  rather  than  in  calm  re- 
flection. Yet  what  a  grand  specimen  of  manhood  he  was.  His 
commanding  presence,  his  massive  head  and  abundant  shaggy 
hair,  his  penetrating  yet  kindly  eyes,  and  not  unhandsome  fea- 
tures ;  these  are  the  items  I  see  in  the  photograi)li  in  my 
memory.  And  in  the  album  photograph  his  hand  once  gave  me 
— that  hand,  how  hard  to  think  it,  now  cold — I  see  the  same 
characteristics.  Some  day  the  qualities  of  his  personality  may 
be  fittingly  summed  up.  He  shall  be  my  personal  benefactor 
who  docs  this  work  as  it  ought  to  be  done. 

It  was  a  pang  to  me  to  hear  of  Mr.  Trask's  death.  Now  it  has 
become,  after  a  little  reflection,  a  gladness  to  me  to  think  of  it, 
]3eautiful  that  the  two,  Eli})ha]et  Trask  and  his  wife,  who  had 
shared  life  together  more  than  threescore  years,  should  go 
almost  together  into  the  world  toward  which  they  had  so  long 
looked  with  growing  hope.  In  life  they  were  united  ;  in  death 
not  divided.  Among  all  the  victorious  Christians  it  has  been 
my  blessing  to  know,  I  can  recall  none  more  worthy  of  praise 
than  these.  She  was  as  great  in  her  home  as  he  was  in  the 
world.  To  them,  if  to  any  of  any  historic  age,  belongs  the 
Crown  of  Life. 

Rev.  Dr.  Oscar  F.  Safford. 

Deering,  Maine,  December  11,  1890. 


TRA  SK  MEMO  RIAL.  91 

From  ike  Springfield  Rejmhlican,  Deceniher  10,   1890. 

Tho  venerable  Eliphulct  Tnisk  of  this  city,  who  was  eighty- 
four  years  and  eleven  months  old,  passed  away  last  evening  after 
a  brief  illness.  He  was  ont  driving  on  Thursday,  but  a  cold 
rapidly  developed  into  pneumonia.  His  indisposition  was  not 
regarded  as  serious  until  Monday,  when  a  nurse  was  engaged. 
Undoubtedly  the  recent  death  of  his  wife  had  much  to  do  with 
his  breaking  down.  With  the  departure  of  this  man,  once  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of  Massachusetts,  the  most  picturesque  figure 
on  the  streets  of  Springfield  has  been  removed.  He  Avas  of 
striking  appearance,  and  kindly  and  companionable  nature,  liked 
by  everybody,  one  of  the  links  that  bonnd  the  new  life  of  this 
progressive  city  to  the  old  days  of  the  town,  and  he  will  be 
greatly  missed.  He  had  shared  in  public  movements  during  all 
his  mature  life,  and  was  full  of  the  memories  tonching  them  all, 
and  this  made  him  exceedingly  interesting.  His  appearance  was 
attractive  and  grew  more  genial  as  he  aged.  He  was  of  uncom- 
mon stature,  and  always  carried  a  cane,  which  seemed  to  be  a 
part  of  the  man.  His  head  was  well  shaped,  crowned  with 
abundant  gray  locks,  the  eyes  deep  set  and  looking  out  from 
under  heavy  eyebrows,  the  nose  firmly  cut,  and  under  his  gray 
and  drooping  moustache  a  cigar  was  always  lurking.  He  was 
invariably  present  on  important  public  occasions,  being  the  one 
whose  attendance  had  been  longest  and  most  faithful  on  the  cer- 
emonies attending  the  induction  of  our  mayors  into  office,  and 
large  social  gatherings  were  sure  to  attract  him.  He  retained  a 
wonderful  degree  of  interest  in  life  up  to  the  last  da}^  on  which 
he  appeared  in  our  streets.  He  had  an  absorbing  attachment  for 
his  home,  which  was  extended  to  everything  relating  to  Spring- 
field, and  to  the  Universalist  Church  here,  in  which  he  was  a 
pillar.  The  story  and  incident  of  his  career  offer  materials  of 
uncommon  interest  for  such  a  sketch  as  this. 

Eliphalet  Trask  was  the  son  of  Josiah  and  Eliza  "Webb  Trask, 
and  was  born  in  Monsou,  January  8, 180G.    His  father  died  when 


92  TBASK  MEMORIAL. 

he  was  a  mere  lad,  uiul  us  there  was  a  large  family  he  had  to  shift 
for  himself.  For  a  time  he  lived  with  his  grandfather  in  Staf- 
ford, Ct.,  working  for  his  board  and  clothes  and  attending 
school  when  he  could.  His  trade  as  a  foundryman  was  learned 
at  East  Brookfield^  and  he  often  related  how  he  walked  out  there 
from  Monson  Sunday  night  so  as  to  be  on  hand  Monday  morning 
for  work.  March  3,  1829,  he  married  Ruby  Squier  of  Monson, 
and  two  years  later  the  couple  moved  to  East  Brookfiekl,  where 
they  lived  until  coming  to  Springfield  in  1834.  Here  his  brother, 
Lauren  Ti-ask,  whose  homestead  stood  nearly  Avhere  Kinsman's 
store  now  is,  was  engaged  in  the  foundry  business,  and  this  was 
continued  by  the  two  brothers  at  the  South  End.  They  soon  sep- 
arated, however,  and  Eli})halet  Trask  moved  into  a  little  white 
house  at  the  foot  of  Court  street,  in  the  rear  of  which  he  fitted 
up  a  foundry.  Then  came  the  beginning  of  his  prosperity,  for 
the  railroads  were  finding  their  way  to  Springfield  and  iron 
founderies  were  scarce.  There  are  a  few  older  residents  who  re- 
member the  horse-power  blast  furnace  in  the  rear  of  Mr.  Trask's 
house,  where  most  of  the  hands  in  the  shop  boarded.  Each  new 
railroad  increased  the  business.  Mr.  Trask  secured  valuable 
patterns  and  he  made  most  of  the  frogs  for  the  switches.  He 
also  set  up  the  first  stationary  engine  in  the  city.  The  foundry 
was  soon  moved  to  the  west  side  of  Water  street,  and  forty-nine 
years  ago  last  April  the  family  moved  into  the  house  near  the 
foot  of  Vernon  street,  Avhich  they  afterward  occupied,  and  where 
so  many  of  the  delightful  reunions  have  been  held. 

Politically  Mr.  Trask  did  his  first  service  of  consequence  to 
Springfield  as  one  of  its  selectmen.  It  was  a  famous  town  meet- 
ing, that  of  April  7,  1851,  for  he  was  the  only  selectman  sworn 
into  ofl&ce,  such  were  the  complications  attending  the  anti-slave- 
ry agitation.  When  the  city  government  Avas  inaugurated  ]\[r. 
Trask  was  elected  alderman  from  Ward  Two.  He  had  early  act- 
ed with  tlic  Federalists,  but  was  soon  identified  with  the  Whigs, 
and  the  only  one  of  the  latter  party  chosen  on  the  Board  of  Al- 
dermen in  1853.     He  kept  his  seat  on  the  Board  of  Aldermen 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  93 

until  elected  mayor  on  a  tidal  wave  in  1854.  His  administration 
was  a  stormy  and  conspicuous  one.  lie  was  an  uncompromising 
Prohibitionist,  and  chose  Levi  Roland  for  his  marshal  when  he 
started  to  close  the  rum  shops.  No  one  questions  that  an  honest 
effort  was  made  to  prohibit  liquor  selling,  but  with  j^ublic  senti- 
ment against  total  abstinence,  success  was  much  hampered.  One 
principal  feature  of  his  administration  was  the  completion  of  the 
City  llall  and  the  i)urchase  of  a  bell,  which  had  to  be  hurried  on 
from  Troy  in  order  to  be  rung  when  the  hall  was  dedicated.  On 
retiring  from  tbe  mayoralty  Mr.  Trask  was  elected  to  the  Legis- 
lature, was  returned  in  1857,  and  again  sent  to  Boston  in  1862. 
He  reappeared  in  the  Board  of  Aldermen  in  1870,  but  had  held 
no  public  office  in  recent  years,  although  repeatedly  nominated 
on  the  Prohibition  ticket. 

In  social  and  religious  life  ex-Governor  Trask  was  active.  He 
was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  First  Universalist  Church,  and 
Mrs.  George  S.  Lewis  is  the  only  survivor  of  those  who  labored 
with  him.  He  organized  a  stock  company  that  built  the  Uni- 
versalist Church,  now  occupied  as  Sibley  &  Moore's  grain  store. 
When  the  Society  was  pressed,  he  bought  nearly  if  not  quite  all 
the  stock,  and  allowed  the  Society  to  use  the  building  free  of 
rent.  Though  an  earnest  supporter  of  the  Universalist  faith  he 
was  far  from  narrowness,  and  many  will  remember  his  recent  re- 
marks in  the  First  Baptist  Church  dedicatory  exercises.  He 
helped  Ariel  Parish  start  the  first  high  school  here  and  went 
deep  into  his  pocket  to  meet  the  expenses.  His  friendship  with 
Governor  Andrew  gave  him  influence  during  the  war,  and  he 
took  an  interest  in  the  recruiting  of  regiments  and  their  home 
support.  At  the  recent  Eeunion  of  the  Twenty-Seventh  Regi- 
ment he  was  one  of  Captain  Dwight's  principal  guests.  He 
spoke,  and  his  son,  Henry  F.  Trask,  sang  a  war  song,  and  the 
veterans  voted  honorary  membership  to  both  with  considerable 
enthusiasm.  When  the  old  company  of  Horse  Guards  flourished, 
there  was  no  finer  appearing  man  in  red  coat,  flourishing  a  heavy 
sabre,  than  Captain  Trask.     With  Odd  Fellowshij)  he  was  early 


94  TRASK   MEMORIAL. 

identified,  joining  Hampden  Lodge,  in  which  he  passed  throngli 
the  chairs  of  tlic  principal  offices.  He  held  the  unique  position 
of  ''Past  Warden''  in  the  Grand  Lodge,  resigning  from  tlic  of- 
fice before  the  expiration  of  his  term.  He  was  also  a  Mason,  but 
in  late  years  had  not  taken  a  prominent  part  in  that  organization. 

In  business  matters  Grovernor  Trask  held  many  positions  of 
trust.  He  was  one  of  the  directors  of  the  old  Western  Bank, 
and  for  years  had  been  a  director  of  the  First  Actional  Bank, 
where  he  succeeded  the  late  T.  W.  Wason.  He  was  a  director 
in  the  "  Stonewall "  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company,  and  presi- 
dent of  the  Hampden  Savings  Bank,  taking  an  active  interest  in 
its  afPairs  up  to  his  last  sickness.  He  was  also  president  of  the 
Agawam  Paper  Company  of  Mittincngne.  For  a  time  be  Wiis 
active  in  the  Hampden  Agricultural  Society,  serving  for  a  time 
as  its  president.  He  was  a  stockholder  in  the  Boston  aiul  Alba- 
ny, and  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  Kailroads,  and 
attended  the  annual  meetings  with  regularity.  He  went  down 
to  New  Haven  tliis  fall  to  vote  at  the  Southoi-n  Riiilroad  meeting. 

Since  the  sad  accident  to  Mrs.  Trask  last  March,  wliich  result- 
ed in  growing  weakness  and  death  November  20,  ex  Covernor 
Trask  has  not  been  the  same  man.  Tbe  strain  told  on  him 
greatly,  and  when  he  attended  church  tlie  Sunday  after  her  death 
it  was  remarked  that  for  the  first  time  Governor  Trask  ajipeared 
like  an  old  man.  He  ke})t  his  grip  with  remarkable  power,  how- 
ever, and  insisted  on  voting  at  the  recent  city  election,  good- 
naturedly  chaffing  Mayor  Bradford  on  the  prospects  the  day 
before.  His  last  appearance  on  a  public  platform  was  when  the 
Irish  envoys  were  in  City  Hall,  and  he  was  particularly  impressed 
with  Mr.  O'Connor,  of  whom  he  spoke  frequently. 

p]liphalet  Trask  rose  to  prominence  in  State  affairs  when  Na- 
thaniel P.  Banks  secured  the-  governorship  in  1858,  and  the 
Springfield  man  served  as  lieutenant-governor  during  the  three 
years  that  his  chief  sat  in  the  executive  chamber.  Those  were 
interesting  times  in  politics.  In  1854  the  flood  of  Know-noth- 
ingism  had  risen  in  Massachusetts  to  sweep  down  the  Whigs  and 


TRASK  MEMORTAL.  95 

to  lift  Henry  J.  Gardner  to  the  governorship  l)y  79,000  votes,  to 
26,000  for  Governor  Emory  Washburn,  Whig,  with  14,000  for 
Lawyer  Beach,  the  Democratic  candidate  and  a  Springfiekl  man, 
and  7,000  for  Henry  Wilson,  the  candidate  of  the  young  Repub- 
lican party.  Gardner  was  given  three  terms.  In  1857,  General 
Banks,  fresh  from  his  brilliant  career  as  Speaker  of  the  National 
House,  was  made  the  candidate  for  governor  by  the  Republican 
party.  The  convention  was  held  June  24,  and  Oliver  Warner  of 
Northampton  was  placed  with  him  as  the  candidate  for  lieuten- 
ant-governor. Banks  had  also  taken  away  from  Governor  Gard- 
ner a  wing  of  the  American  party,  and  on  that  ticket  Eliphalet 
Trask  had  been  named  for  lieutenant-governor.  But  as  the 
campaign  progressed,  the  State  committees  of  the  Republican 
and  Banks  American  parties  met  and  pooled  their  issues  on  a 
single  ticket.  Oliver  Warner  retired  as  the  candidate  for  second 
place  and  Trask  was  retained,  while  Warner  was  made  candidate 
for  secretary  of  sta'te — the  post  which  he  held  from  1858  to  1876. 
Another  Western  Massachusetts  man,  by  the  way,  Jonathan  E. 
Field  of  Stockbridge,  was  candidate  for  lieutenant-governor  on 
the  Democratic  ticket.  Governor  Trask  enjoyed  his  experience 
in  Boston,  and  was  re-elected  for  the  three  terms  with  Banks; 
but  in  1860,  just  before  the  Republican  State  convention.  Gov- 
ernor Banks  declined  a  re-nomination,  and  with  his  retirement 
went  that  of  Lieutenant-Governor  Trask.  John  A.  Andrew  was 
then  elected  governor,  with  John  Z.  Goodrich  of  Stockbridge  as 
his  lieutenant. 

Governor  Trask  stood  with  the  Republican  party  thereafter 
until  his  temjaerance  convictions  led  him  to  join  the  ranks  of  the 
Prohibitionists,  where  for  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century  he  had 
been  a  leader.  Until  advancing  years  lessened  his  activities  he 
was  the  foremost  man  of  Springfield  in  the  third  party,  the  leader 
in  its  caucuses  and  meetings,  and  prominent  at  the  State  con- 
ventions. The  Governor  was  fond  of  telling  how  as  chairman  of 
the  platform  committee  he  on  one  occasion  secured  Benjamin  F. 
Butler  to  draw  up  the  platform  for  a  Prohibitory  convention. 


96  TBASK  MEMORIAL. 

wliicli  was  duly  accepted.  The  Governor,  by  the  way,  was  always 
a  warm  friend  of  General  Butler,  and  his  position  in  the  Prohi- 
bition camp  did  not  prevent  him  from  supporting  "  the  old  man  " 
during  his  campaigns  for  the  governorship,  and  he  was  one  of 
the  most  enthusiastic  local  admirers  of  Butler. 

Governor  Trask  was  a  democratic  man,  and  a  truly  "  Jefferso- 
nian  simplicity  "  characterized  his  life  and  surroundings.  As  he 
clung  to  his  old  home  on  Water  street,  so  he  kept  his  old  oflicc 
unchanged  when  everybody  else  was  refitting  and  refurnishing. 
It  is  a  quaint  old-fashioned  corner  room  in  a  two-story  brick 
house  contiguous  to  the  foundry-yard,  with  ancient,  well-worn 
liigh  desks  and  stools,  and  plain  armchairs  of  the  early  part  of 
the  century  :  on  the  shelves  scattered  castings  and  packages. 
Here  the  politics  of  nation,  state  and  city  were  discussed  with 
great  wealth  of  reminiscence,  between  the  Governor  and  liis  old 
friends,  and  many  a  hard-fought  game  of  checkers  absorl)ed  their 
attention  of  an  afternoon.  The  foundry  before  it  burned  down 
some  fifteen  years  ago  was  even  a  more  modest  building  tlian  its 
successor;  and  as  Governor  Trask  witnessed  the  fiumes  conquer 
the  weather-beaten  flag-staff  that  surmounted  it,  he  recalled  the 
day  when  that  staff  was  raised,  in  the  Harrison  log-cabin  and 
hard-cider  campaign. 

To  few  people  have  been  accorded  hap2)ier  home  relations  than 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Trask.  The  golden  wedding  came  in  1879,  the 
sixtieth  anniversary,  also  the  occasion  of  a  gathering  of  children, 
grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren,  came  ten  years  later. 
Six  children  survive  :  Henry  F.  Trask,  Albert  Trask,  Mrs.  Har- 
riet F.  Davis,  Mrs.  E.  A.  Chapin  of  this  city,  Mrs.  Edward 
Newcomb  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  Mrs.  AVilliam  II.  Hawkins  of 
Schagbticoke,  N.  Y.  No  arrangements  have  yet  been  made  for 
the  funeral,  which  will,  of  course,  be  held  in  St.  Paul's  Church. 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  97 

From  the  Springfield  Daily  Union,  Decemher  0,  1800. 

Ex-Lieuton;mt-Governor  Eliplialet  Trask,  whose  illness  with 
pneumonia  was  first  announced  in  yesterday's  Union,  died  last 
evening  at  liis  home  on  Water  street.  His  death  coming  so  sud- 
denly is  a  shock  to  the  community  in  which  he  has  been  promi- 
nent for  over  half  a  century,  and  was  no  doubt  hastened  by  the 
recent  loss  of  his  wife. 

Governor  Trask  has  been  one  of  the  most  picturesque  figures 
in  the  Connecticut  valley,  and  he  was  a  man  held  in  universal 
esteem.  No  man  in  any  community  has  had  a  more  honorable 
record  than  he  made  during  his  fifty-six  years'  residence  in  this 
city.  Active  in  church  and  social  life,  trusted  and  successful  in 
business,  and  honoring  the  important  offices  to  which  he  was 
called,  his  whole  life  affords  a  good  example  of  the  best  New 
England  manhood. 

Eliphalet  Trask  was  born  at  Monson,  January  8,  1806,  and 
was  a  son  of  Josiah  Trask  and  Elizabeth  Webb,  the  latter  a  resi- 
dent of  Stafl'ord,  Ct.,  at  the  time  of  her  marriage.  Mr.  Trask's 
father  was  a  farmer  and  a  natural  mechanic,  seldom  finding  it 
necessary  to  employ  a  man  to  do  any  piece  of  work.  Eliphalet 
attended  the  common  school  at  Monson  till  he  was  twelve  years 
old,  when  he  went  to  live  with  his  grandfather  at  Stafford.  While 
there  he  worked  summers  and  attended  school  winters  at  **  Fur- 
nace PIollow."  lie  began  work  in  a  foundry  when  about  twenty 
years  old,  and  was  engaged  in  that  business  till  his  death.  He 
became  an  expert  molder,  and  from  1828  till  1834  was  employed 
in  a  foundry  in  East  Brookfield.  The  work  was  hard  and  wages 
low — not  more  than  ninety-two  cents  a  day — but  Mr.  Trask  was 
industrious  and  faithful,  and  few  men  can  point  to  a  record  of 
more  day's  work  in  a  year  than  he  accomplished  during  that 
time.  Those  were  the  days  of  the  old-fashioned  blast  furnaces, 
and  it  was  necessary  to  work  on  Sundays  as  well  as  other  days. 
One  year  he  worked  329  days,  the  next  330  and  the  third  340, 
making  a  total  of  999  days  in  three  years. 


98  TliASK  MEMORIAL. 

During  his  residence  at  East  Jiruuiviield,  March  3,  1829,  Mr. 
Trask  married  Kuby,  daughter  of  Solomon  Squier  of  IMonson, 
the  ceremony  being  performed  by  Eev.  Dr.  Ely.  The  marriage 
was  on  Tuesday,  and  the  day  following  was  that  of  the  inaugura- 
tion of  President  Jackson. 

In  1834,  Mr.  Trask  and  his  wife  decided  to  come  to  Springfield 
and  make  their  home  here,  and  the  journey  from  East  Brookfield 
was  made  by  stage,  October  1.  In  partnership  Avith  his  brothers, 
Lauren  and  Abner,  he  established  a  foundry  on  South  street,  at 
Mill  river,  below  the  bridge,  and  Trask's  pond  took  its  name 
from  his  works.  He  remained  there  two  years,  and  then  sold  his 
interest  in  the  business  to  his  brothers  and  built  a  foundry  on 
Court  street,  on  the  present  site  of  his  brick  dwelling  houses,  one 
of  which  is  now  occupied  by  his  son,  Ilenry  F.  Trask.  After 
three  or  four  years  he  established  the  foundry  on  Water  street, 
which  he  has  conducted  ever  since.  The  foundry  now  employs 
about  ten  men,  but  years  ago  the  business  was  much  larger  than  at 
present.  Much  work  was  done  for  the  Western  Eailroad  Com- 
pany, and  the  patterns  and  castings  for  the  first  locomotive  built 
in  this  city  were  made  at  Mr.  Trask's  foundry.  He  at  one  time 
had  five  pattern  makers  engaged  on  work  for  the  railroad  compa- 
ny, and  the  heavy  iron  arches  which  supported  the  roof  of  the 
old  Union  depot  were  made  under  Mr.  Trask's  direction.  As 
many  as  forty  men  have  been  employed  at  different  times. 

Governor  Trask  began  political  life  as  a  Whig,  and  his  first 
prcsidentiiil  vote  was  cast  in  1828  for  John  Quincy  Adams,  who 
had  been  nominated  for  a  second  term  and  was  defeated  by  An- 
drew Jackson.  He  remained  a  AV'hig  until  the  "  Know-nothing  " 
party  came  up;  but  he  was  no  fugitive  slave  law  Whig,  and  he 
and  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Osgood  of  the  First  Church  worked  to- 
gether for  years  in  connection  with  the  so-called  "  underground 
railroad,"  When  Geoi-ge  Thompson  of  England  came  to  Sjjring- 
ficld  in  February,  1850,  to  speak  againet  slavery — a  public  hear- 
ing having  been  refused  him  at  Boston — Mr.  Trask  refused  to 
join  in  the  clamor  which  was  raised  against  Thompson,  and  said 


TRA  SK  MEMO  RIAL.  99 

that  he  did  not  believe  in  muzzling  any  man.  He  and  Dr.  Os- 
good were  with  Tliompson  in  the  oUI  Hampden  House  wlien  the 
excited  crowd  gathered  about  the  building.  In  the  fall  of  1857, 
just  as  the  tidal  wave  of  Know-nothingism  was  receding,  the 
Republicans  and  part  of  the  Know-nothings  nominated  and 
elected  N.  P.  Banks  for  governor  and  Eliphalet  Trask  for  lieu- 
tenant-governor. Henry  J.  Gardner  was  nominated  for  his 
fourth  term  as  governor  that  3^ear  by  a  remnant  of  Know-noth- 
ings, and  E.  D.  Beach  was  the  Democratic  gubernatorial  candi- 
date. Banks  and  Trask  were  twice  re-elected,  the  Democratic 
candidate  for  governor  in  1858  being  Mr.  Beach  and  in  1850 
General  Butler.  The  Democratic  candidate  against  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Trask  in  1850  was  the  late  Stephen  C.  Bemis  of  this 
city.  In  1860  Governor  Trask  Avent  to  the  National  Republican 
Convention  at  Chicago,  not  as  a  delegate,  but  as  a  companion  to 
the  late  George  Ashmun  and  as  a  close  friend  of  Governor  Banks, 
who  had  developed  considerable  strength  as  a  candidate  for  vice- 
president.  Only  a  few  months  ago  the  (ilovernor  spoke  to  the 
writer  of  that  convention,  and  referred  to  the  nuiny  courtesies  he 
received  from  Mr.  Ashmun,  who  was  chairman  of  the  convention. 
Mr.  Ashmun  insisted  upon  his  accompanying  him  to  Springfield, 
Illinois,  to  notify  Mr.  Lincoln  of  his  election,  and  of  the  little 
group  which  surrounded  Mr.  Lincoln  when  he  was  notified  of  his 
nomination.  Governor  Trask  was  one  of  the  last  survivors.  When 
the  Rejiublicans  of  Massachusetts  divided  upon  the  issue  of  nom- 
inating General  Butler  for  governor.  Governor  Trask  espoused 
the  Butler  cause  very  warmly,  and  in  recent  years  had  not  been 
closely  identified  with  any  party,  but  had  voted  as  he  pleased. 
In  municipal  politics  he  had  been  for  many  years  a  Prohibition- 
ist, but  in  national  politics  he  voted  for  Cleveland  in  1884,  and 
also,  we  believe,  in  1888.  When  he  was  lieutenant-governor, 
II.  Q.  Sanderson  was  a  representative  from  Ward  Five,  and  they 
l)oarded  together  at  Boston  in  the  old  Bromfield  House,  kept  by 
Mr,  Crockett.  The  (Jovernor  was  as  fond  of  baekgamnion  and 
checkers  in  Boston  as  in  Springfield,  and  whoever  droi)ped  into 


100  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

the  Bromfield  of  an  evening  was  pretty  sure  to  find  the  Governor 
measuring  his  skill  at  one  of  his  favorite  games  at  the  hotel  ofitice. 
Governor  Trask  was  a  member  of  the  last  Board  of  Selectmen 
which  Springfield  had,  and  under  whose  administration  Spring- 
field became  a  city.  Probably  there  was  never  a  more  exciting 
election  than  that  for  town  officers  for  the  year  1851.  The 
Thompson  episode  had  stirred  the  town  to  its  very  depths,  and 
even  the  United  States  Armory  stoj)ped  work  on  town  meeting 
day  that  the  workmen  might  have  an  opportunity  to  vote.  The 
only  member  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen  who  was  elected  at  the 
regular  town  meeting  was  Mr.  Trask,  and  a  special  meeting  was 
necessary  to  complete  the  Board.  When  Sjiringfield  became  a 
city,  Selectman  Trask  was  elected  an  alderman  from  Ward  Two, 
and  he  was  twice  re-elected,  and  thus  served  under  Caleb  Rice 
and  P.  B.  Tyler.  Mr.  Rice  was  mayor  for  two  terms  and  was 
nominated  by  the  W^higs  for  a  third  term,  P.  B.  Tyler  was  the 
Democratic  candidate,  and  there  was  also  a  third  candidate,  and 
there  was  no  choice  at  the  December  election.  At  the  special 
election  in  January,  1854,  for  the  city  government  of  1854,  the 
Whigs  nominated  Mr.  Trask,  who  had  been  elected  alderman  at 
the  December  election,  as  their  candidate  for  mayor,  and  ]\Ir. 
Tyler  was  elected  over  him.  In  December,  1854,  Alderman 
Trask  was  the  Whig  candidate  for  mayor,  and  the  late  E.  D. 
Beach,  who  was  a  member  of  the  first  Board  of  Aldermen,  was 
the  Democratic  candidate,  and  the  vote  stood  904  for  Trask  and 
480  for  Beach.  With  his  service  as  mayor  for  the  year  1855  Mr. 
Trask's  official  connection  with  Springfield's  municipal  adminis- 
tration ceased.  The  City  Hall  was  completed  and  dedicated 
during  his  administration.  Among  the  present  survivors  of  the 
three  municipal  administrations  with  which  Governor  Trask  was 
connected  as  alderman  are  :  W.  C.  Sturtevant  and  11.  Q.  Sander- 
son, who  were  members  of  Springfield's  first  Common  Council ; 
William  Pynchon,  E.  W.  Bond  and  T.  M.  Walker,  who  were  in 
the  second  Common  Council,  and  Frederick  11.  Harris,  Tilly 
llaynes  and   Henry  A.  Robinson,  who   were  in   the  Common 


TBA8K  MEMORIAL.  101 

Council  of  1854.  W.  C.  Sturtevant  was  an  alderman  nnder 
Mayor  Trask,  and  is  the  only  survivor  of  that  Board,  and  D.  H. 
Brigliam  and  John  W.  Hunt  were  in  the  Common  Council. 
Mayor  Trask^s  city  marshal  was  Levi  P.  Rowland.  When  he 
retired  from  the  mayoralty  he  was  elected  representative  for  the 
years  185'!  and  1857,  and  was  again  elected  representative 
in  1862. 

He  has  for  many  years  been  president  of  the  Hampden  Savings 
Bank,  and  was  also  president  of  the  Agawam  Paper  Company, 
and  a  director  of  the  First  National  Bank  and  the  Springfield 
Mutual  Fire  Assurance  Company.  He  was  also  president  for 
many  years  of  the  Agawam  Canal  Company. 

Governor  Trask  became  an  Odd  Fellow  on  January  6,  1845. 
Soon  after  he  was  chosen  treasurer  of  Hampden  Lodge  and  held 
that  office  for  two  terms,  retiring  to  become  Vice-Grand  of  the 
Lodge.  In  1847  he  was  elected  Noble  Grand  of  the  organization. 
He  was  the  first  Noble  Grand  to  serve  the  six  months's  term,  the 
change  from  three  months  being  made  just  before  his  election. 
He  joined  the  Agawam  Encampment  soon  after  its  institution, 
and  in  1850  he  was  Chief  Patriarch  of  the  "  Camp."  He  soon 
became  interested  in  the  Avork  of  the  Grand  Lodge  and  several 
times  efforts  were  made  to  induce  him  to  become  an  officer  of 
that  body.  Finally  he  accepted  office  long  enough  to  be  titled 
"Past  Warden"  of  the  Massachusetts  Grand  Lodge.  He  could 
not  be  persuaded  to  accept  the  highest  office  within  the  power  of 
that  body  to  give.  In  recent  years  he  has  only  been  present  at 
Lodge  meetings  on  special  occasions.  The  annual  gathering 
of  the  Hampden  Lodge  veterans  was  always  an  occasion  of  much 
interest  to  him.  The  members  present  at  this  gathering  a  year 
ago  will  remember  with  pleasure  the  anecdotes  with  which  he 
entertained  the  audience,  all  of  them  having  a  direct  connection 
with  lodge  affairs. 

Governor  Trask  was  one  of  the  leading  organizers  and  pro- 
moters of  the  L^niversalist  Church,  and  to  liim  and  the  late 
Thomas  W.  Wason,  the  church  probably  owes  its  existence,  as 


102  THASK  MEMORIAL. 

tlu-y  ii;a\v  hel[)iii,i::  liaiuls  just  when  they  were  needed.  'J'lie  Gov- 
ernor organized  the  company  which  built  the  old  church  on  Main 
street,  where  Sibley  &  Moore  now  are,  and  finally  became  the 
owner  of  the  building  and  furnished  it  to  the  church  free  of  rent. 
Notwithstanding  his  loyalty  and  devotion  to  his  own  church,  he 
was  a  warm  friend  of  all  churches  and  of  all  moral  and  educa- 
tional movements  and  activities.  He  was  a  good  man  and  a 
good  citizen,  and  Springfield  will  miss  him.  At  the  celebration 
of  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of 
the  First  Church,  Governor  Trask  was  an  interested  participant, 
and  no  one  who  heard  his  earnest  plea  at  that  time  for  right 
living,  will  ever  forget  his  impressive  and  pathetic  address.  We 
shall  all  miss  his  familiar  figure  and  his  cheery  greetings,  for  no 
man  was  too  poor  or  too  humble  to  be  numbered  among  the 
Governor's  friends.  He  was  simplicity  itself  in  his  habits  and 
his  life,  and  after  lie  built  his  new  house  on  Court  street  for  him- 
self and  his  son,  he  clung  to  his  old  homestead  on  Water  street 
because  he  and  his  wife  "felt  more  at  home  there."  Governor 
and  Mrs.  Trask's  long  wedded  life  was  only  shadowed  in  its  hap- 
piness by  Mrs.  Trask's  illness,  and  her  death  was  the  beginning 
of  the  end  for  him. 

Governor  and  Mrs.  Trask  had  an  unusually  long  and  happy 
married  life,  and  the  sixtieth  anniversary  of  their  marriage  was 
celebrated  by  a  family  gathering  at  their  home  last  year.  They 
had  ten  children,  six  of  whom  are  living,  twenty-nine  grand- 
children, nineteen  of  whom  are  living,  and  four  great-grand- 
children. Their  surviving  children  are  Henry  F.  Trask,  Albert, 
Trask,  Mrs.  Harriet  G.  Davis  and  Mrs.  E.  A.  Chapin  of  this 
city,  Mrs.  Edward  Newcomb  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam II.  Hawkins  of  Schaghticoke,  N.  Y.  Their  grandchildren 
are  :  Harry,  Samuel  and  Jennie,  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  F. 
Trask  of  this  city  ;  Charles  B.,  Edward  and  Nellie,  children  of 
Albert  Trask  of  this  city  ;  Edward,  Leila  and  Kuby,  children  of 
Mrs.  Newcomb ;  Frederick,  Philip,  Louis,  Henry,  Reynolds 
and   Isabel   C,  children  of  Mrs.  Hawkins  ;  lluby,  daughter  of 


TRAUK  MEMORIAL.  103 

Mrs.  Davis,  and  Lurancie,  Lantie  and  Eliplialet  T.,  tlie  last 
being  the  city  treasurer,  children  of  Mrs.  L.  A.  TifTt.  The 
gi'eat-grandchildren,  are  two  children,  a  boy  and  a  girl,  of 
Charles  B.  Trask  of  this  city,  and  two  boys  of  E.  T.  TilTt,  all 
quite  young. 


From  Progressive  Siiringjield. 

Ex- Lieutenant-Governor  Eliplialet  Trask,  whose  death  occur- 
red on  the  ninth  of  December,  thirteen  days  after  his  wife's,  was 
in  every  res2)ect  the  typical  business  man  who  has  made  within 
the  last  jfifty  years  Springfield  what  it  is.  His  life  was  in  the 
line  of  producing  something,  rather  than  following  that  fleeting 
phantom,  speculation,  which  makes  millionaires  to-day  and  beg- 
gars to-morrow.  The  good  old-fashioned  New  England  notion 
that  wealth  must  come  from  work  and  saving,  were  the  charac- 
teristics and  bent  of  his  mind,  and  yet  he  was  at  no  time  so 
absorbed  in  accumulating  wealth  that  appeals  for  charitable  pur- 
poses, and  other  good  works,  were  unheeded.  His  kindly  nature 
and  sympathy  with  those  struggling  under  a  misfortune  that 
could  not  have  been  avoided,  made  him  a  ready  helper  and  well- 
wisher.  He  has  frequently  said,  "  There  is  no  mystery  about 
gaining  wealth — the  true  way  is  to  spend  less  than  you  earn, 
each  year,  and  in  time  you  will  have  a  handsome  competence ; 
that  is  all  there  is  to  it."  Into  public  life  he  carried  the  same 
stern  sense  of  duty  that  he  maintained  at  home — faithfulness  to 
every  trust.  No  man  had  a  higher  sense  of  what  we  call  "fair 
play."  He  wanted  nothing  for  himself  that  he  was  not  willing- 
others  should  enjoy.  In  politics  and  in  religion  he  wanted  faith- 
fulness to  pledges,  and  the  right  of  private  judgment,  and  he 
was  equall}'  willing  to  accord  the  same  to  others.  In  all  public 
questions  which  he  deemed  important  he  was  steadfast  and  cared 
not  for  the  opinions  of  others  who  might  differ.  The  question 
for  him  to  solve  was,  '^  Is  it  right?"  He  was  often  in  the  minor- 
ity,  fighting  valiantly  for  what  he  held  as  best  against  those 


1()4  TliASK  MEMORIAL. 

wlioiii  lie  ri'Specti'd  unci  :igreed  with  in  olliiT  inaUcrs.  He  was 
ever  opposed  to  slavery,  and  his  voice  was  ever  on  the  side  of 
freedom,  lie  stood  firmly  for  temperance  because  he  saw  the 
evils  of  intemperance  and  knew  that  poverty,  wretchedness  and 
crime  followed  as  resulting  causes.  Few  men  changed  less  as  old 
age  came  on.  He  had  the  same  pleasant  greeting,  the  same  love 
of  jjleasantry,  and  the  same  interest  in  public  affairs,  both  at 
home  aiul  abroad,  that  he  did  in  earlier  years.  There  was  no 
feebleness  in  interest  and  no  decay  of  intellect.  Only  little 
more  than  two  weeks  before  he  died  he  sat  through  the  long  ad- 
dress of  Thomas  Power  O'Connor,  in  the  City  Hall,  on  the  affairs 
in  Ireland,  and  as  he  passed  his  contril)ution  into  the  hat,  he 
remarked,  "  It  is  worth  something  to  hear  such  good  speaking,'' 
indicating  that  popular  ajapeals  in  causes  in  which  he  had  an 
interest  were  as  of  much  moment  to  him  as  when  he  was  in  the 
prime  of  life. 

Selectman,  alderman  and  mayor,  were  the  offices  he  held  at 
home,  and  lieutenant-governor,  when  General  N.  P.  Banks  was 
governor,  was  the  most  imjiortant  office  held  in  State  affairs. 
He  was  for  a  long  time  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Northampton 
asylum  for  the  insane.  At  his  death  he  was  a  director  of  the 
First  National  Bank,  and  president  of  the  Ilampden  Savings 
Bank,  and  had  been  prominently  connected  with  other  business 
affairs,  as  director  and  president.  He  Avas  president  of  the  Aga- 
wam  Paper  Company  from  its  organization  in  ]858  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death.  The  company  began  business  iti  1859  and  he 
had  the  proud  record  of  having  attended  every  annual  meeting 
from  the  beginning,  covering  a  period  of  over  thirty  years,  and 
its  successful  business  career  was  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  him 
to  know  that  others  as  well  as  himself  shared  in  its  prosjjerity. 
The  large  attendance  at  the  funeral,  held  at  St.  Paul's  Church, 
on  Friday,  the  twelfth  ultimo,  testified  to  the  great  regard  for  him. 
He  was  born  in  Monson,  January  8,  180G,  and  therefore  lacked 
but  little  of  being  eighty-five  years  old.  His  early  life  was  like 
that  of  many  successful  New  England  boys — a  struggle  for  even 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  105 

ti  living  ;  but  he  entered  upon  his  life  work  with  energy  and  de- 
terminiition,  and  u  magnificent  success  followed.  Could  he  have 
had  those  advantages  of  a  lil)eral  education  that  now  come  to 
every  boy,  and  maintained  the  same  determination  and  piii'suit 
of  business,  he  would  have  been  a  man  widely  known  and  as 
widely  felt.  No  man  grasped  the  right  of  things  more  quickly 
than  he,  and  although  not  a  trained  speaker  he  was  always  forci- 
ble, and  at  times  even  eloquent,  in  debate,  especially  when  the 
wrong  he  was  trying  to  meet  had  come  near  to  iiini.  His  life 
has  been  a  grand  .example  to  the  community  in  which  he  so  long 
lived,  and  it  should  be  full  of  encouragement  to  the  young  about 
to  start  out  to  achieve  wealth  and  an  honored  name. 


Fruni  the  Springiield  Ilomestead. 

The  distinguished  face  of  the  venerable  ex-Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor will  be  seen  no  more  forever  in  his  accustomed  haunts. 
He  passed  away  on  Tuesday  evening  of  pneumonia,  surviving  his 
wife  only  thirteen  days.  Of  his  eighty-four  years,  and  nearly 
eighty-five,  fifty-six  were  passed  in  this  city,  which  he  served 
first  as  selectman,  then  as  Ward  Two's  first  alderman  ;  again 
chosen  to  this  office,  on  the  Whig  ticket,  he  served  several  years 
in  succession.  He  was  elected  mayor  in  1854,  and,  as  staunch  a 
temperance  man  then  as  at  the  close  of  his  life,  he  made  a  hercu- 
lean effort  to  enforce  the  liquor  law.  He  was  elected  to  the 
Legislature  in  1856,  1857)  18G2  and  1870,  and  was  elected  lieu- 
tenant-governor in  1858,  on  the  Republican  ticket,  serving  the 
three  years  that  Nathaniel  P.  Banks  was  governor.  Shortly  af- 
terward he  joined  the  third  party,  in  which  he  was  a  leader 
thereafter  until  his  death.  As  active  in  church  as  in  ])ublic 
matters,  Governor  Trask  was  the  foremost  Univers.ilist  of  this 
city  and  vicinity.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  First 
Universalist  Chui'ch  and  his  co-operation  and  liberality  did  much 
to  make  St.  Paul's  Church  what  it  is.     His  career  as  a  business 


100  TliA  -5 A'  MJ£M  Oh'IAL. 

man  closed  fully  a  (|iiartcr  of  a  century  ag^:-,  when  he  turned  over 
to  other  heads  and  hands  the  management  of  his  iron  foundry, 
having  accumulated,  enough  property  to  enable  him  to  pass  his 
old  age  in  good  works  and  congenial  pleasures.  From  his  child- 
hood in  Monson  to  the  close  of  his  life  Eliphalet  Trask  was  pure 
gold.  The  six  children  who  survive  him  arc  Henry  F.  Trask, 
Albert  Trask,  Mrs.  Harriet  F.  Davis  and  Mrs.  E.  A.  Chapin,  all 
of  this  city,  and  Mrs.  Edward  Newcomb  of  Albany  and  Mrs. 
William  H.  Hawkins  of  Sehaghticoke,  Ts.  Y. 

The  extended  sketches  of  Mr,  Trask's  life  which  have  appeared 
the  past  week  might  be  still  further  increased  by  story  and  anec- 
dote, so  full  was  his  life  of  action  and  incident.  That  he  was 
hung  in  efiligy,  as  stated  in  one  paper,  is  a  mistake.  Those  stir- 
ring days  of  abolition  agitation  brought  this  man's  force  of 
character  and  (juick  decision  into  play  in  a  way  which  gave  rise  to 
the  story.  Tt  was  George  Thompson,  the  English  abolitionist, 
whose  ethgy  swung  from  the  elm  tree  still  standing  on  Court 
Square,  opposite  the  Chicopee  Bank,  and  not  the  effigy  of  Eli])h- 
alet  Trask.  But  the  latter  man  was  connected  with  the  famous 
alfair  which  stirred  the  town  to  its  very  foundation.  It  came 
about  in  this  way  :  A  small  debating  society,  which  numbered 
among  its  members  Ruf  us  Elmer  and  Dr.  Chnrch,  and  other  well- 
known  people,  invited  this  Thompson,  who  was  an  ex-member 
of  Parliament  and  a  man  of  surpassing  eloquence,  to  lecture  in 
this  city  upon  East  India,  a  country  which  he  hiid  visited  to  in- 
vestigate the  slave  traflic  of  the  East  India  Company,  The  least 
symptom  of  anti-slavery  feeling  in  Springfield  stirred  np  a  hor- 
net's nest.  Major  Ripley,  Superintendtmt  of  the  Armory,  and 
Master  Armorer  Allen  were  so  anxious  lest  any  discussion  of  this 
subject  might  endanger  their  chances  in  Congress  for  good  ap- 
propriations for  the  local  Armory,  that  they  set  about  immedi- 
ately to  kindle  a  feeling  against  the  'J'hompson  lecture.  They 
succeeded  notably.  On  the  day  set  for  the  lecture,  which  was 
Saturday,  a  howling  mob,  with  fife  and  drum,  marched  the 
streets  of  the  town,  threw  rotten  eggs  at  the  windows  of  the 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  107 

Hampden  House,  where  Mr.  Thompson  was  stopping,  and  suc- 
ceeded  in   preventing  the  delivery  of   the   lecture.     The  next 
morning,  as  the  good  people  of  Springfield  wended  their  way  to 
tlie  old  First  Church,  an  effigy  of  the  lecturer  dangled  from  the 
limb  of  tlie  old  elm.     Slieriff  Caleb  Rice  ordered  the  figui'c  cut 
down  immediately,  but  the  excitement  was  not  over.     The  anti- 
slavery  people  engaged  a  room  on  Sanford  street,  and  on  Monday 
forenoon  Mr.  Thompson  and  Wendell  Phillips  addressed  as  hirge 
a  company  as  could  be  crowded  into  the  room.     The  very  man 
who  beat  the  drum  in   Saturday  night's  mob  was  there,  and 
among  others  was  so  eager  to  hear  more  from  the  famous  Eng- 
lishman that  he  called  repeatedly  for  him,  and  Wendell  Phillips 
retorted  by  reminding  the  company  that  they  should  have  heard 
him  Saturday  night  when  he  was  advertised    to   speak.     The 
meeting  organized' with  a  chairman  and  several  vice-presidents, 
including  young  Eliphalet  Trask,  who  was  chosen  on  this  occasion 
because   on   his   own   account  he  had   opened  the  Universalist 
Church  (which  he  almost  owned)  to  abolitionist  meetings   when 
other  churches  were  closed  against  them.     Tiiis  brave  stand  for 
free  thought  and  free  discussion  established  him  in  the  favor  of 
the  abolitionists,  althougli  he  had  not  announced  himself  such. 
A  committee  of  prominent  citizens,  who  feared  his  intluence, 
visited  him  after  the  Thompson  meeting  and  asked  him  to  sign 
a  document  stating  that  it  was  without  his  sanction  and  against 
his    will    that    he    was    appointed    a    vice-president    of    this 
anti-slavery    gathering.      Although    he    did    not    attend    the 
meeting,   and    knew  nothing   of  the   use    of    his    name    thus, 
the   stalwart   young   man   thundered.    "No!"   and    his  visitors 
retreated.     One  of  the  lirst  results  was  the  removal  by  Major 
Ivipley  of  all  the  iVrmory  patterns  from  Trask's  foundry,  where 
considerable  Armory  work  had  been  done.      Thereafter  Major 
Kipley  gave  this  woi-k  to  P.  B.  Tyler  &  Co.,  on  the  hill.     'J'his 
episode   served   to   bring  young  Mr.  Trask  into  a   prominence 
from  which  he  never  receded.     He  soon  became  an  abolitionist, 
and  in  the  famous  contested  election  in  1851   he  was  the  onlv 


108  rilASK  MEMORIAL. 

selectman  elected,   because  lie  Wiis  the  cundidate  of  both    the 
Whigs  and  Free-soilers. 

The  foundation  of  his  fortune  was  laid  by  the  work  he  did  for 
the  New  Haven,  Hartford  &  Springfield  Railroad  while  it  was 
building.  The  frogs  for  the  switches  were  cast  at  his  fouiulry, 
the  company  paying  him  partly  in  cash  and  the  balance  in  shares 
of  stock,  which  then  had  but  little  market  value  and  paid  no 
dividends.  This  stock  Mr.  Trask  kept  and  increased  afterwards 
by  i)urchases,  until  he  owned  a  large  amount.  lie  was  a  stock- 
holder also  in  the  Boston  and  Albany  railroad,  and  an  officer  of 
various  local  enterprises. 

.St.  Paul's  Church  could  not  accommodate  all  who  wished  to 
attend  the  funeral  of  (rovernor  Trask  yesterday  afternoon.  A 
quartet  composed  of  James  0.  Ingersoll,  George  11.  Bond,  H.  G. 
Chapin  and  Edward  Morris  sang  ''Watch,  for  Ye  Know  Not," 
"Thou  Who  Changest  Not"  and  ''Gathering  Home."  Rev. 
Marion  Crosley  read  the  Scripture  lesson  and  Rev.  Dr.  A.  A. 
Miner  of  Boston  offered  prayer.  Mr.  Crossley  spoke  feelingly  of 
the  deceased.  He  said  he  felt  as  if  he  were  one  of  the  chief 
mourners.  He  met  Governor  Trask  twenty-five  years  ago  in  the 
West,  when  they  were  attending  a  general  convention.  Since 
then  he  had  met  him  and  served  on  committees  with  him.  His 
wisdom  and  influence  were  always  felt.  AVhcn  Mr.  Crosley  oc- 
cupied the  pulpit  of  St.  Paul's  Church  for  the  first  time,  the  face 
of  the  venerable  ex-mayor  was  the  only  one  before  him  that  the 
speaker  had  ever  seen  before.  "  He  was  nearer  to  me  than  any 
one  else  in  the  ('hurch,"  said  the  speaker.  "  I  feel  his  loss  as  a 
friend,  an  adviser  and  a  brother.  It  is  difficult  to  speak  words 
of  consolation,  because  I  want  to  hear  them.  I  need  to  say  but 
a  few  words  in  reference  to  him  because  you  all  know  him  so 
well.  His  life  of  simplicity  won  us  to  him.  These  tears  si)eak 
more  eloquently  of  our  feelings  for  the  departed  than  anything 
that  can  be  said."  Mr.  Crosley  paid  a  tribute  to  the  character 
of  the  deceased  and  referred  to  the  fact  that  he  was  the  founder 
of  St.  Paul's  Church.     Rev.  Dr.  Miner  spoke  of  him  as  a  leader 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  100 

in  the  Universalist  denomination,  not  alone  here,  but  tliroughout 
tlie  country.  He  spoke  of  his  public  work,  liis  broad  charities, 
his  interest  in  public  enterprises,  his  work  in  temperance  and 
other  reform  lines.  Eliphalet  Trask  was  one  child  in  the  great, 
family  of  God,  and  he  found  it  out ;  he  lived  with  his  fellow-men 
as  a  brother.  Tears  were  not  in  keeping  with  the  ending  of  sncli 
a  life.  When  a  man  has  reached  that  venerable  age  he  belongs 
to  the  other  world. 

The  pew  which  Governor  Trask  had  occupied  was  draped  with 
green  and  on  the  seat  rested  an  open  book  from  his  Sunday-school 
class,  bearing  the  word  "Teacher."  A  cross,  a  scroll,  a  floral 
sickle  across  a  sheaf  of  wheat,  an  Odd  Fellows'  design,  and  nu- 
merous bouquets  of  flowers  were  about  the  casket  and  pulpit. 
The  Odd  Fellows'  burial  service  was  read  after  the  other.  Messrs. 
Henry  F.  and  Albert  Trask,  sons,  and  E.  T.  Tifft,  Charles  B. 
Trask,  Edward  Newcomb  of  Albany  and  Philip,  Louie  and  Henry 
Hawkins  of  Schaghticoke,  N.  Y.,  grandsons,  were  the  bearers. 
Mayor  Bradford  and  the  entire  city  government  attended  the 
funeral  in  a  body.  John  Ledeaux,  who  has  been  for  forty-three 
years  in  Governor  Trask's  employ,  W.  W.  Thomas  with  thirty- 
seven  years  of  service,  and  M.  P.  Hickey  and  T.  A.  King,  each 
with  twenty-two  years  of  service  for  Mr.  Trask,  occupied  a  pew 
together. 


From  the  Springfield  Daily   Union. 

To  THE  Editor  of  the  Union  : 

When  a  true  and  good  and  honorable  man  dies,  our  memory 
of  him  naturally  reverts  with  mournful  pleasure  to  the  many 
things  he  may  have  done  or  said,  especially  if  we  were  personally 
cognizant  of  the  things  done  ;  or  if  things  were  personally  said 
to  us  ;  and  thus,  my  mind  goes  back  to  some  less  than  a  year  ago, 
when  I  met  ex-Lieutenaut-Governor  Trask  at  a  religious  meeting 
in  St.  Paul's  Church  vestry,  during  a  week's  series  of  preaching 
services,  last  winter.     It  was  on   the  last  two  evenings  of  the 


110  ritASK    MEMOllIM.. 

series.  I  was  early  there  as  was  the  ex-lieu  tenant-governor,  who 
sat  at  my  side,  near  the  pulpit,  each  evening.  lie  greeted  mc  in 
his  usual  genial,  friendly  manner,  and  at  once  entered  into  con- 
versation with  me  on  various  topics.  I  said  to  him,  for  one  thing, 
that  I  had  seen  in  the  Union  a  few  days  hefore,  that  some  one 
had  shown  its  editors  an  old  State  ticket  with  the  names  of  Na- 
thaniel P.  Hanks  and  Eliphalet  Trask  at  its  head.  "  Yes,''  he 
said,  "1  saw  it;*'  then  remarked,  "I  served  with  Banks  the 
three  years  he  was  governor."  I  remarked  that  I  voted  that  ticket. 
From  that  we  went  on  to  talk  of  the  stirring  political  times  dur- 
ing the  Fremont  campaign  of  185G,  and  just  before  the  war  of 
the  rebellion  broke  out.  Then  he  told  me  of  his  being  a  delegate 
to  the  National  Republican  Convention  in  Pliiladelphia,  in  185G, 
that  nominated  John  C.  Fremont  for  president.  I  will  say  here, 
that  I  have  not  seen  this  part  of  his  political  life  stated  in  any  of 
our  papers.  The  Union  mentioned,  however,  that  through  the 
urgent  invitation  of  George  Ashmun — a  chosen  delegate  to  the 
Chicago  convention  in  1860  that  nominated  Lincoln,  and  of 
which  Mr.  Ashmun  was  the  chairman — he  went  to  Chicago  to 
witness  the  convention  proceedings,  and  also  went  after  the  con- 
vention, by  request,  witii  Mr.  Ashmun.  to  be  present  at  the 
tendering  of  the  nomination  to  Mr.  Lincoln — a  notable  event, 
truly.  The  ex-lieutenant-governor  related  to  me  a  fact,  not  gener- 
ally known,  that  "some  of  the  Southern  delegates  to  the  185G 
convention — Clay  Whigs,  I  sujipose, — came  there  with  revolvers 
in  their  pockets,  and  in  layiiig  aside  some  of  their  wearables  in 
the  cloak-rooms,  placed  their  revolvers  upon  them,  for  the  pur- 
pose," as  the  ex-licutcnant-goveruor  said,  "  to  intimidate  the 
Northerners  ;  but  the  Northerners  did  not  scare  worth  a  cent, 
hut  went  ahead  and  nominated  their  man,  Fremont,  to  the 
Southerners'  chagrin."  "■  This  fact,"  he  said,  ''shows  the  feel- 
ing at  the  South  that  was  brewing,  and  culminated  at  last  in  the 
civil  war,  four  years  afcerward."  I  replied  to  this,  that  "I  re- 
membered very  well  the  forebodings  I  felt  during  the  Fremont 
campaign,   that  some  terrible  calamity  was  coming  njjon  our 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  Ill 

country,  because  of  the  excited  stute  of  feeling  of  the  Soutliern 
oligarchy,  who  were  determined  to  rule  or  ruin.  I  could  hardly 
believe  it  could  be  civil  war,  but  I  felt  something  terri])le  was  to 
hai)pen.  I  said  I  suppose  thousands  of  others  felt  similarly, 
and  our  feelings  proved  to  be  a  prescience  of  that  four  years' 
terrible,  bloody  struggle  that  came  through  Lincoln's  election, 
or  was  made  to  come  by  that  election. 

One  other  thing  the  ex-lieutenant-governor  related  to  me, 
whicii  was  this  :  "In  the  last  year  of  the  governorship  of  Gov- 
ernor Banks,  one  morning  in  the  council  chamber  at  the  State 
House,  the  governor  in  talking  to  me,  made  this  remark  in  very 
emphatic  language, — '  There  is  going  to  be  one  of  the  d. — dcst, 
bloodiest  wars  this  country  ever  experienced/  I  was  amazed, 
aud  asked,  'Do  you  believe  that,  governor  ?'  'Believe  it,  yes, 
and  you  mark  my  works,  it  will  come  very  soon,  too  ! '"  The  ex- 
lieutenant-governor  apologized  to  me  for  the  governor's  profane 
expression,  "  that  if  forcible,  it  was  not  elegant,  but  it  seemed 
to  emphasize  the  governor's  convictions  as  nothing  else  would." 
He  said,  "  The  governor  had  a  prescience,  we  must  believe,  that 
a  political  crisis  was  fast  precipitating  itself  upon  the  country, 
as  thousands  of  others  did,  but  none  could  give  a  clear  reason 
why,  only  that  it  was  their  feeling,  so  profound  was  the  impres- 
sion on  people's  minds."  I  made  this  reply  to  the  ex-lieutcnant- 
ofovernor,  that  "  I  had  a  cousin,  a  Northerner,  who  was  an  assist- 
ant  editor  on  the  leading  Democratic  paper  South,  the  Charleston 
Mercury,  who  afterwards  told  me,  that  after  Lincoln's  election, 
he  Avas  thoroughly  convinced  that  secession  was  to  be  a  real 
thing,  and  that  he  resigned  his  position  and  retired  before  the 
terrible  blow  was  struck,  he  was  so  certain  of  it.  He  learned  this 
fact  from  the  leading  men  South,  who  came  into  the  MercuTtifs 
editorial  rooms,  for  they  were  earnest  and  outspoken,  and  em- 
phatic, as  to  their  determination  ;  so  it  now  seems  that  secession 
was  in  the  air  and  that  Governor  Banks,  with  thousands  of  others, 
felt  it,  knew  it,  all  over  the  North,  as  the  South  were  sure  of  it, 
by  their  own  decision."  The  war  came,  and,  oh,  how  terrible  it  was! 


112  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

Now,  tluit  it  comes  to  my  mim],  I  will  relate  a  touching  inci- 
dent happening  on  this  particular  evening  in  question.  When 
the  ex-lieutenant-governor  came  into  the  room,  he  seated  him- 
self in  an  armless  chair.  With  sharp,  observant  eyes,  a  young 
lady  back  in  the  audience  detected  this,  and  came  up  the  aisle 
to  one  corner  of  the  room,  and  from  it  l)rought  an  armchair, 
with  a  request  that  he  should  take  it,  as  he  did,  with  a  smile  and 
a  "thank  you;"  and  then  said  to  me,  ''that  the  young  huh' 
was  one  of  his  Sunthiy-school  class,  who  thought  it  would  ])e 
easier  for  him,  and  that  the  chair  was  the  one  he  sat  in  in  his 
large  class  of  young  ladies" — pointing  to  the  corner  where  the 
class  assembled  on  Sundays.  I  felt  the  touching  force  of  this 
tender  and  considerate  act  on  my  own  feelings ;  for  I  saw  the 
watchful  solicitude  with  which  his  Sunday-school  class  regarded 
him.  Let  me  add  in  this  connection,  that  I  heard  the  ex-lieu, 
tenant-governor  say  to  a  city  minister,  last  summer,  that  "he 
had  been  a  Sunday-school  teacher  for  upward  of  forty  years,  and 
still  loved  the  Sunday-school  as  well  now  as  ever  in  his  life." 
What  a  noble  record  I 

Now  I  will  relate  something  of  the  second  evening  at  the 
vestry  services.  The  ex-lieutenant-governor  occupied  the  same 
seat  as  the  evening  before,  near  me.  He  stated  to  me  who  Avas 
to  preach,  and  gave  me  a  little  history  of  the  preacher,  Rev.  Mr. 
Farnsworth.  From  this  he  went  on  to  speak  how  it  was  he  be- 
came a  Universalist.  When  a  boy  he  lived  at  Stafford,  Gt.,  and 
was  brought  up  in  the  strictest  tenets  of  Calvinism,  his  mother 
being  a  strict  liaptist ;  that  he  used  to  go  with  her  to  meeting  ; 
til  at  the  great  founder  of  Univcrsalism,  TJev.  Ilosea  Kallou,  used 
to  often  preach  in  Stafford,  and  having  a  boy-curiosity  to  hear 
him  lie  would  slip  out  of  the  Baptist  meeting  and  go  to  hear 
him  and  then  get  back  again  before  meeting  was  out,  so  to  make 
all  appear  well  to  his  mother,  who  would  have  been  horrified  if 
she  had  known  where  he  had  been  ;  thus,  he  heard  ]\Ir.  llallou, 
when  possible,  and  not  have  his  mother  know  of  it.  This  kind 
of  preaching  made  a  strong  impress  on  his  mind  ;  it  appealed  to 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  UP. 

his  reason  and  his  heart ;  it  seemcfl  to  him  to  be  more  like  the 
teachings  of  Christ  than  any  thing  lie  liad  ever  heard  l)cfore  ; 
tliat  it  unfukled  to  him  tlie  loving  fatherhood  of  God,  instead  of 
a  re})ellant,  wratliful  God;  that  all  men  were  his  children,  whom 
the  good  Father  would  not  cast  off  forever  from  his  presence,  but 
would  somehow,  some  way,  bring  them  all  to  himself  finally ; 
that  Christ,  his  loving  Son,  had  made  the  way  plain,  and  would 
lead  all  men  to  the  Father  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  all  at  the 
last  would  find  a  haven  of  rest  in  the  eternal  kingdom  of  this 
loving  father.  Thus,  he  said,  he  was  led  on,  until  the  reason- 
ableness of  universal  salvation  commended  itself  to  his  reason, 
liis  heart  and  his  whole  soul ;  that  he  had  been  seventy  years  a 
ITniversalist,  and  had  never  wavered  from  that  day  to  this.  He 
here  ended  the  talk,  that  I  have  repeated  in  outline,  that  has 
never  been  resumed  ;  but  that  talk  I  shall  never  forget. 

Now  this  grand  old  man  has  passed  over  to  the  "majority," 
on  the  other  shore  ;  and  I  am  told  that  he  smiled  a  welcome  to 
death,  when  the  transition  came,  and  seemed  to  be  anticipating 
a  blessed  home  and  a  glorious  rest,  as  if  in  a  heavenly  vision.  In 
such  a  death  I  feel  that  I  can  never  again  criticise  the  denomi- 
national belief  of  any  other  person  ;  for  who  will  dare  say  an- 
other's belief  was  not  the  true  faith?  The  ex-lieutenant-gov- 
ernor departed  with  the  full  conviction  tluit  Universalism  is 
true  ;  that  his  trust  in  God  would  not  be  in  vain  ;  that  he  was 
willing  to  abide  by  the  result  of  that  belief ;  that  his  loving- 
Father  would  welcome  him  as  his  child  into  His  ever-enduring 
kingdom.  In  this  life  and  death  creeds  an-d  denominational 
dill'erences  fade  to  nothingness,  in  my  mind,  in  determining 
who  shall  merit  the  "  Well  Done ''  of  the  beneficent,  loving 
Father  of  us  poor  weaklings  of  earth,  when  an  exchange  of 
worlds  shall  come  to  us.  Who  dares  to  be  our  judge,  or  can  be 
our  judge,  but  God?  Less  ecclesiastical  formuhe  and  more  true 
and  holy  living  would  do  more  to  settle  our  demominational 
differences  than  any  thing  else,  I  do  believe.  It  is  a  true  adage, 
I  think.  '•  That  none  are  all  bad — that  none  are  all  ffood." 


114  TliASK  MEMORIAL. 

One  otiier  tlioiiglit.  I  quote  tlic  lirst  liiiu  of  this  p;i[)or:  "  A 
true  and  good  and  honorable  man/'  and  I  might  have  added, 
"and  great  man  ;"  for  ex- Lieutenant-Governor  Trask  combined 
all  these  qualities,  and  more,  lie  was  "a  true  man  ;"  true  to 
himself,  to  his  fellow-men,  and  to  humanity  ; — "a good  man,"  we 
know,  for  liis  goodness  could  be  read  of  all  men  that  ever  saw  or 
knew  him;  ''an  honorable  man,"  for  his  whole  life  proves  that, 
and  his  fellows,  often,  in  years  past,  have  made  him  their 
standard-bearer  in  places  of  i)osition,  and  he  added  honor  to  his 
constituency  and  to  himself,  for  he  was  never  sullied  with  any 
dishonor  ;  and,  also  he  was  a  ''  great  man  ;"  a  man  who  had  (puil- 
ities  that  would  iiave  nuide  him  more  of  a  nuirked  character  than 
he  was,  if  he  had  had  tiie  educational  advantages  of  young  men 
in  our  time ;  in  fact,  as  it  was,  he  has  held  many  positions  of 
trust,  that  few  men  in  our  day  can  ever  have  the  pi'ivilege  of 
holdini;-  the  like.  He  had  the  qualities  of  a  statesman,  and 
would  have  done  the  duties  of  a  statesman  better  than  most  of 
those  do  nowadays,  in  Washington.  lie  was  no  orator  or 
speechmaker,  wliicli  passes  with  many  men  for  statesmanship  in 
our  national  Congress  and  elsewhere,  but  he  was  a  faithful  doer. 
He  also  had  nobility  of  character  that  counts  largely  to  make  a 
great  man.  lie  was  one  who  would  greet  you  with  a  smile,  not 
repel  you  with  a  cold  look  ;  you  never  M^ould  go  from  him  with 
a  chill  that  Avould  make  you  say,  ''I  will  never  speak  to  that 
man  again."  What  a  compliment  for  a  man,  to  have  men  in  his 
em})loy — one  for  forty- three  years,  another  for  thirty-seven  years, 
and  two  others  for  twenty-two  years  each.  It  was  a  touching 
spectacle  to  see  these  men  occupying  a  pew  together  at  the 
funeral  of  their  old  employer  with  other  mourners.  The  city 
and  commonwealth  have  lost  a  great  and  good  man.  Truly,  *'a 
priiu-e"  among  men  has  gone  from  usi 

Stephen  Lamson. 

Springjield,  Dccc))iher  22. 


DEATH  OF  MRS.  TRASK. 

From  the  CliriMian  Leader,  November  27,  1890. 

The  wife  of  our  honored  and  venerable  co-worker^  lion. 
Eliphalet  Trask  of  Springfield,  closed  her  earthly  career  Wednes- 
da}'^,  November  26,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight.  She  began  to  fail 
about  six  weeks  ago,  and  at  the  end  all  her  six  children  were 
gathered  at  her  bedside.  Mrs.  Trask  Avas  the  daughter  of  Solomon 
Squier  of  Monson,  and  the  youngest  as  well  as  the  only  survivor  of 
fifteen  children,  eleven  of  them  boys.  She  was  married  March  3, 
1829,  to  Eliphalet  Trask,  and  the  couple  lived  in  Monson  until 
1831,  when  they  moved  to  Brookfield,  while  three  years  later  they 
went  to  Springfield.  For  nearly  fifty  years  Mr.  Trask  has  oc- 
cupied the  house  at  106  Water  street.  There  their  children 
have  been  reared,  and  their  family  anniversaries  have  been  cele- 
brated by  children,  grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren. 
Her  children  are  Henry  F.  Trask  and  Mrs.  H.  G.  Davis,  twins, 
Albert  Trask  and  Mrs.  E.  A.  Ohapin  of  Springfield,  Mrs.  Ed- 
ward JSTewcomb  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  Mrs.  W.  H.  Hawkins  of 
Schaghticoke,  N.  Y.  City  Treasurer  Tifi't  and  his  two  sisters 
are  "children  of  Mrs.  L.  A.  Tifft,  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Trask,  who 
died  some  years  ago.  Mrs.  Trask  was  a  member  of  St.  Paul's 
Church  almost  since  its  organization,  and  she  was  actively  identi- 
fied in  the  society.  Although  she  had  been  devoted  to  her  home, 
her  husband^s  career  as  mayor  and  lieutenant-governor  brought 
her  before  the  public,  but  she  met  the  responsil)ilities  with  the 
sim})licity  and  modesty  that  characterized  her  life.  There  will 
be  abundant  sympathy  with  Mr.  Trask  in  the  loss  of  the  com- 
panion of  sixty  years,  and  with  the  other  members  of  the  family, 
lielatives   of   Mrs.    Trask    had    come   from   Monson,    Palmer, 


11(5  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

Belchertown  and  other  places,  and  so  numerous  were  they  that 
sixteen  carriages  were  tilled  with  the  relatives  alone.  The  sing- 
ing was  by  the  men's  quartette,  made  up  of  Messrs.  Chapin, 
Bond,  Morris  and  Ingersoll,  who  sang  '' Only  Waiting,''  ''There 
is  a  Land  Immortal,"  and  "Come  Unto  Me."  The  bearers 
were  Mrs.  Trask's  eight  grandchildren.  The  flowers  were  un- 
usually abundant  and  beautiful.  Among  the  most  striking  de- 
signs were  a  standing  wreath  of  ivy  with  a  sickle  of  roses,  a 
basket  of  red  and  white  roses  and  violets,  and  a  floral  pillow  with 
the  word  "Grandmother."  Then  there  was  a  bunch  of  pearl 
roses  with  ribbon,  a  bunch  of  Easter  lilies,  another  of  ivy  and 
white  roses,  and  one  of  hyacinths  and  white  violets.  There  were 
also  several  boxes  of  cut  flowers,  chiefly  roses  and  chrysanthe- 
mums.    The  burial  was  at  the  Springfield  cemetery. 


Fi-om  the  Springjield  Republican,  November  27,  1800. 

A  long  wedded  life  has  been  broken  by  the  death  last  evening 
of  Kuby  Squier,  wife  of  Eliphalet  Trask,  who  yielded  to  the  in- 
firmities of  old  age,  which  were  aggravated  by  injuries  received 
in  a  trying  exposure  last  March.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
she  wandered  away  from  home  March  17,  and  was  found  the 
following  day  with  a  badly  broken  arm  and  serious  bruises.  The 
broken  member  healed,  and  she  recovered  partly  from  the  shock 
and  exposure,  but  her  mind  had  Avandered.  She  pathetically 
repeated  that  she  wanted  to  "go  home,"  referring  to  the  old 
family  place  in  Monson.  When  able  to  drive  out  la^t  summer, 
the  family  took  her  to  the  house  in  Monson,  where  she  spent 
her  childhood,  and  she  returned  on  her  78th  birthday.  She  be- 
gan to  fail  a  few  weeks  ago,  and  at  the  end  last  evening,  all  her 
six  children  were  gathered  at  the  bedside.  Mrs.  Trask  was  the 
daughter  of  Solomon  Squier  of  Monson,  and  the  youngest,  as 
well  as  the  only  survivor,  of  fifteen  children,  eleven  of  them 
boys.  She  was  niarried  March  3,  1829,  to  Eliphalet  Trask,  and 
the  couple  lived  in  that  town  until   1831,  when  they  moved  to 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  117 

Brookficld,  while  three  years  later  they  came  to  this  city.  For 
nearly  fifty  years  Mr.  Trask  has  occupied  the  house  at  lOG  AVater 
street,  there  their  children  have  been  reared,  and  there  the  fami- 
ly anniversaries  have  been  celebrated  by  children,  grandchildren 
and  great-grandchildren.  Her  cliildren  are  Henry  F.  Trask  and. 
Mrs.  H.  G.  Davis,  twins,  Albert  Trask  and  Mrs.  E.  A.  Chapin 
of  this  city,  Mrs.  Edward  Newcomb  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  Mrs.  ^V. 
H.  Hawkins  of  Schaghticoke,  N.  Y.  City  Treasurer  Tifft  and 
his  two  sisters  are  children  of  Mrs.  L.  A.  Tifft,  a  daughter  of 
Mrs.  Trask,  Avho  died  some  years  ago.  Mrs.  Trask  was  a  mem- 
ber of  St.  Paul's  Church,  almost  since  its  organization,  and  she 
was  actively  identified  in  the  society.  Although  she  had  been 
devoted  to  the  home,  her  husband's  career  as  mayor  and  lieu- 
tenant-governor brought  her  before  the  public,  but  she  met  the 
responsibilities  with  the  simplicity  and  modesty  that  character- 
ized her  life.  There  will  be  abundant  sympathy  Avith  Mr.  Trask 
in  the  loss  of  the  companion  of  sixty  years,  and  with  the  other 
members  of  the  family.  Arrangements  have  not  yet  been  made 
for  the  funeral. 


From  the  Springfield  BepnMican,  November  30,  1890. 

The  funeral  of  Mrs.  Eliphalet  Trask  was  conducted  at  her  late 
home  on  Water  street,  by  Eev.  Marion  Crosley,  at  two  o'clock 
yesterday  afternoon.  Mr.  Crosley  spoke  briefly  but  feelingly 
upon,  personal  qualities  and  long  and  useful  life  of  the  dead 
woman,  alluding  particularly  to  her  past  activity  in  good  works 
in  connection  with  her  church.  He  closed  with  consoling  words 
for  the  family  and  friends,  a  large  num])er  of  whom  were  present. 
Eelatives  of  Mrs.  Trask  had  come  from  Monson,  Palmer, 
Belchertown  and  other  places,  and  so  numerous  were  they  that 
sixteen  carriages  were  filled  with  the  relatives  alone.  The  sing- 
ing was  by  the  men's  quartet,  made  up  of  Messrs.  Chapin,  Bond, 
Morris  and  Ingersoll,  who  sang,  "  Only  Waiting,"  "  There  is  a 
Land  Immortal"  and  "Come  Unto  Me."     The  bearers  were 


lis  TRASK  MEMORIAL. 

Mrs.  Trask's  eight  grandcliildren.  The  flowers  were  unusually 
al)undant  and  beautiful.  Among  the  most  striking  designs  were 
a  standing  wreath  of  ivy  witli  a  sickle  of  roses,  a  basket  of  red 
and  white  roses  and  violets,  and  a  floral  pillow  with  the  word 
"Grandmother."  Then  there  was  a  bunch  of  pearl  roses  with 
ril)bon,  a  bunch  of  Easter  lilies,  another  of  ivy  and  white  roses 
and  one  of  hyacinths  and  white  violets.  There  were  also  several 
boxes  of  cut  flowers,  chiefly  roses  and  chrysanthemums.  The 
burial  was  at  the  Springfield  cemetery. 


From  the  Springjield   Union,  November  28,  1800. 

Mrs.  Eliplialet  Trask,  wife  of  ex-Lieutenant-Governor  Trask, 
died  at  her  home  on  Water  street,  Wednesday  evening  at  0.20 
o'clock.  She  was  seventy-nine  years  old,  and  was  very  well  known 
and  much  respected  throughout  this  section.  She  came  of  an 
old  New  England  stock,  being  the  youngest  and  the  last  of 
fifteen  children.  Her  father  was  Solomon  Squier  of  Monson, 
and  she  and  Eliphalet  Trask  were  married  March  3,  1820.  In 
1831,  she  and  her  husband  moved  to  Brookiield,  and  removed  to 
this  city  about  1835.  Their  home  on  Water  street  has  l)ecomc 
a  familiar  landmark  for  a  great  many  years,  and  the  scone  of 
many  pleasant  family  gatherings.  Mrs.  Trask,  in  her  younger 
days,  and  when  she  was  in  the  full  possession  of  her  vigor,  was 
})rominently  identified  with  cliurch  and  charitable  work,  being 
an  early  member  of  St.  Paul's  Church.  One  of  lier  daughters, 
Mrs.  L.  A.  Tift,  was  the  mother  of  City  Treasurer  Tift  and  his 
sisters.  Mrs.  Trask's  other  children  are:  PTenry  F.  Trask, 
Mrs.  II.  G.  Davis,  Albert  Trask  and  Mrs.  E.  A.  Chapin  of  tliis 
city,  Mrs.  Edward  Newcomb  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  Mrs.  W.  II. 
Hawkins  of  Schaghticoke,  N.  Y. 

Mrs.  Trask  sustained  a  severe  shock  by  the  injuries  she  received, 
when,  last  March,  she  wandered  away,  trying  to  find  her  old 
hom'3  in  Monsf)n.  Her  broken  arm  was  healed,  but  the  sliock  to 
her  system  was  so  severe  that  she  was  never  the  same  since.     A 


TRASK  MEMORIAL.  119 

chnnge  for  the  worse  sot  in  Monday,  and  her  mind  wandered  a 
little.  She  was  in  a  semi-conscious  state,  and  was  snrronndod 
by  her  children  wlien  the  end  came.  Of  a  sinf^ularly  sweet 
character  and  an  earnest  Christian,  she  belonged  to  a  wider  circle 
than  those  in  her  own  home,  and  will  be  sadly  missed.  Much 
sympathy  is  expressed  for  ex-Lieutenant-fiovernor  Trask,  who 
has  lost  his  life-long  companion. 

The  funeral  will  take  place  at  the  old  house  on  Water  street, 
to-morrow  afternoon  at  two  o'clock.  Rev.  Mr.  Crosley  will  take 
charge  of  the  services,  and  the  quartet  which  will  sing,  will  con- 
sist of  James  C.  Ingersoll,  Edward  Morris,  Henry  G.  Chapin 
and  George  R.  Bond.  The  burial  willbe  a  private  one,  and  will 
take  place  at  the  Springfield  cemetery.  The  bearers  will  be 
eight  of  Mrs.  Trask's  grandchildren. 


From  the  Sprincjfield  Union  Novemher  29,  1890. 
The  funeral  of  Mrs.  Eliphalet  Trask  took  place  this  afternoon 
at  two  o'clock,  at  the  old  homesteadon  Water  street,  a  large  com- 
pany of  old  friends  being  present.  Rev.  Marion  ('rosley  had 
charge  of  the  services,  and  delivered  an  impressive  address  on  the 
life  and  character  of  Mrs.  Trask.  A  quartet  consisting  of  James 
0.  Ingersoll,  Edward  Morris,  Henry  G.  Chapin  and  George  R. 
Bond  sang  three  hymns,  '^  Only  Waiting,"  "There  is  a  Land 
Immortal  "  and  "  Come  Unto  Me."  Interment  took  place  at  the 
Springfield  cemetery,  and  the  bearers  were  the  following  grand- 
children of  Mrs.  Trask:  E.  T.  Tifft,  Charles  B.  Trask,  Samuel 
H.  'J'rask,  Harry  B.  Trask,  Phillip  Hawkins,  E.  T.  Newcomb, 
Louis  Hawkins  and  Henry  Hawkins.  The  floral  tributes  were 
l)eautiful,  and  among  them  was  a  pillow  from  the  bearers,  in- 
scribed ,  "  ( i  randmother." 


From  the  Spriiiffjield  Homestead  Novemher  29,  1890. 
Thanksgiving  was  turned  into  a  day  of  mourning  at  the  home 
of  ex-Lieutenant-Governor  Eliphalet  Trask  on  Water  street,  the 


120  Tli.lSK   MEMORIAL. 

liouse  which  luis  scl-d  so  iiiauy  joyous  laiiiily  galhe-i'iiigs.  Mrs. 
TiMsk  passutl  uwjiy  Wcdnc'sdiiy  evening,  in  her  seventy-ninth 
year,  with  all  her  six  ehililren  aroimd  her  bedside.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  8olonion  tScjuier  of  Monson,  the  youngest  of  liftt'en 
chihlren,  and  the  last  to  go.  In  March,  1881),  Mr.  and  .Mrs. 
Trask  celebrated  their  si.xtietli  wedding  anniversary,  ant!  the 
portrait  which  a})pears  herewith  was  printed  at  that  time  in 
these  columns  beside  tiuit  of  her  husband.  The  children  ai'e 
Henry  F.  Trask  and  Mi's.  il.  G.  Davis,  twins  ;  All)ert  Trask  and 
Mrs.  E.  A.  Chaj)in  of  this  city,  Mrs.  Edward  Newcomb  of  Albany^ 
and  !Mrs.  W.  H.  Hawkins  of  Schaghticoke,  N.  Y.  A  daughter 
who  died  several  years  ago  w^as  ]Mrs.  Jj.  A.  TiiTt,  mother  of  City 
'J'rcasuier  'J'ilTt.  ]\[rs.  Trask  was  an  active  mcndicr  of  St.  Paul's 
('hurch.  and  a  much  Indovi-d  woman. 


A  GOLDEN  WEDDING, 


A  NOTABLE  ANNIVERSARY. 

The  Ai'rROA(^iii]sr(i  Golden  Wedding  of  ex-Goveknou 

Trask. 

From  tJie  Springfield  Daily   Union. 

Decidedly  the  most  interesting  social  event  of  the  season  will 
he  the  celehration,  next  Monday  evening,  of  the  golden  wedding 
of  ex-Governor  and  Mrs.  Eliphalet  Trask  at  their  residence  on 
Water  street,  where  they  have  lived  for  thirty-seven  years  come 
the  first  of  next  April.  The  Governor  is  still  so  yonng  looking 
and  active  a  man,  t'liat  it  seems  almost  impossible  he  can  have 
l)eon  married  fifty  years,  and  still  more  so  that  he  can  be  sevent)-- 
tliree  years  old.  But  that  is  what  the  records  say,  and  the 
golden  wedding  anniversary  really  having  come  round,  there  will 
bo  hosts  of  people  happy  to  have  a  chance  to  offer  their  congrat- 
ulations and  express  their  good  wishes  on  the  occasion,  lioth 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Trask  (the  maiden  name  of  the  latter  being  En  by 
Squier)  are  natives  of  Monson,  and  there  they  were  married  on 
the  eve  of  the  inauguration  of  President  Jackson,  March  3,  1829. 
Mrs.  Trask's  father,  Josiah  Trask,  was  a  farmer,  and  he  helped 
till  tlie  paternal  acres  until  he  was  twenty-one,  having  oidy  such 
means  of  education  as  were  furnished  by  the  commoii  schools  of 
the  time.  On  striking  out  for  himself  he  decided  to  learn  the 
foundry  business,  at  which  he  worked  in  Furnace  Hollow, 
Stafford,  Ct.,  and  Ejist  Brookfield,  before  coming  to  Springfield, 
in  October,  1834,  to  start  in  business  on  his  own  account.  He 
has  been  engaged  in  the  same  business  ever  since,  for  some  time 
in  partnership  with  one  or  more  brothers,  and  in  different  locali- 
ties in  the  city,  having,  however,  occupied  tlic  present  site  of  his 


124  TliASK  MKMOJtlAL. 

fouiiilry  on  Water  street  since  1841.  Of  his  success  in  business 
it  is  only  necessary  to  say,  that  beginning  without  means,  he  has 
gained  a  handsome  competence,  and  he  has  done  it  by  the  practice 
of  industry,  thrift  and  prudence,  which,  added  to  integrity, 
have  often  brought  rich  returns  to  "self  made  men  "  in  New 
Kngland  before,  and  which.  "  homely  virtues  "  though  they  may 
1)0,  will  continue  to  pay  better  in  the  long  run  than  any  amount 
of  vicious  smartness.  Doubtless  Mr.  Trask  has  had  reverses,  like 
others.  But  he  has  not  whined  about  them.  He  has  also  had 
troubles  and  sorrows.  Of  the  ten  children  with  which  his  mar- 
ried life  has  been  blessed,  four  "are  not,  for  God  took  them," 
and  many  of  the  friends  of  his  youth  and  middle  life  have 
])assed  on  before.  But  with  wife  and  six  children  still  spared 
to  him,  and  troops  of  friends  yet  remaining,  he  has  reason  to 
think,  as  we  are  sure  he  does,  that  life  has  brought  him  more  of 
sunshine  than  of  shadow. 

Governor  Trask  has  always  taken  a  great  interest  in  public 
alTairs,  and  it  is  his  j)rominence  as  a  public  man  that  makes  the 
coming  anniversary  of  more  than  private  or  merely  local  interest. 
So  long  ago  as  1851,  when  Springfield  was  yet  a  town,  Mr. 
Trask  was  one  of  the  selectmen,  and  when  the  "infant  city"  was 
organized,  he  became  an  alderman,  serving  in  the  upper  branch 
of  the  City  Council  in  1852,  1853  and  1854,  and  again  in  1870. 
In  1855  he  was  mayor  of  the  city,  in  1857  and  again  m  1863  he 
Avas  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  and  from  1858  to  18G0  he  was 
lieutenant-governor  of  the  State,  during  the  administration  of 
Governor  Banks.  He  was  also  county  coroner  for  fourteen  or 
fifteen  years,  has  been  a  trustee  of  the  Northampton  Insane  Asy- 
lum for  eighteen  years,  has  been  one  of  the  managers  of  the  City 
Hospital  since  its  establishment,  and  has  held  many  other  offices 
of  trust  and  res})onsibility,  both  political  and  in  connection  with 
the  Universalist  Church,  of  which  he  has  always  been  a  promi- 
nent and  active  member,  doing  much  for  the  building  up  of  that 
denomination  in  this  city  and  vicinity.  Mr.  Trask's  zeal  in  the 
temperance  cause  is  well  known  all  over  the  State.     He  believes 


TliASK  MEMORIAL.  125 

ill  prohibition  thoroughly  and  eurnestly,  and  is  just  as  pro- 
nounced in  his  opinions  now  as  when  prohibition  was  a  political 
force  of  much  greater  importance  than  at  jn'csent,  or  perhaps 
ever  likely  to  be  again. 

Of  course  no  man  could  have  been  as  long  prominent  in  pub- 
lic life  as  Governor  Trask  has  been,  without  exciting  enmities. 
His  views  have  often  been  denounced,  but  no  one  has  ever  ven- 
tured to  question  his  honesty  or  doubt  his  integrity.  Ho  has 
given  and  taken  some  hard  blows  in  politics,  as  men  in  the  front 
must.  But  his  genial  face  belies  him  if  he  bears  malice  toward 
any  man  living,  and  we  are  sure  that  none  of  his  political  foes, 
of  however  long  standing,  bear  a  grudge  toward  him.  On  the 
contrary  they  will  be  among  the  first  and  heartiest  to  congratu- 
late him  Monday  night,  as  he  rounds  out  a  half-century  of 
happy  married  life.  Owing  to  their  presence  being  required  at 
Washington,  General  Banks,  General  Butler,  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Massachusetts  delegation  in  Congress,  who  liave  long- 
been  associated  politically  with  Governor  Trask,  will  probably 
be  prevented  from  attending  the  golden  wedding,  but  the  public 
men  of  the  State  will  be  well  represented,  and  the  home  friends 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Trask  will  be  there  in  force,  testifying  by  their 
presence  and  their  words  of  their  good  will,  and  all  wishing  that 
the  host  and  hostess  of  the  evening  may  still  "live  long  and 
prosper." 


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